ITHACA, N.Y. — Sophomore forward Anthony Angello scored his third goal of the season, but the Cornell men’s hockey team suffered a 3-1 loss Friday against #4/6 Quinnipiac at Lynah Rink in its home opener.
Tim Clifton opened the scoring for the Bobcats, the defending league champions in the game’s 11th minute. Cornell (2-3-1, 2-2-1 ECAC Hockey) was assessed a penalty on the play, giving Quinnipiac (8-3-1, 4-1) an opportunity to take a strangehold early on in a choppy game, but strong efforts from forwards Eric Freschi and Alex Rauter spurred the Big Red’s penalty kill.
Just 23 seconds after the power play ended, Cornell tied the game on Angello’s goal. Senior forward Jake Weidner worked the puck up to senior defenseman Patrick McCarron on the right point. His shot deflected off a defender but still bounded toward the net. After another carom off sophomore forward Mitch Vanderlaan near the top of the crease, Angello backhanded the puck by Quinnipiac goalie Chris Truehl to ignite the crowd. With the secondary helper on the goal, McCarron now has assists in four straight games.
The Bobcats took control early in the second period with a power-play goal by Craig Martin on a backdoor saucer pass from K.J. Tiefenwerth. The Bobcats then capped the scoring with a fortunate break when Bo Pieper’s innocuous centering pass bounced into the net off a Cornell defenseman’s skate past a helpless Mitch Gillam (17 saves).
The loss was Cornell’s first among its ECAC Hockey home openers since Nov. 2, 2007 (3-2 loss vs. Princeton). The Big Red takes on the Tigers in its next game at 7 p.m. Saturday.
