ITHACA, N.Y. — Mike Schafer ’86 has been named the Ivy League Coach of the Year for a second straight season, and three other members of the Cornell men’s hockey team have earned spots on the All-Ivy League first team with two more garnering honorable mention, as announced by the league on Wednesday afternoon.
Junior defenseman Yanni Kaldis is on the All-Ivy League first team for a third straight year, where he joins sophomore forward Morgan Barron and sophomore goaltender Austin McGrath. Senior forward and captain Mitch Vanderlaan and sophomore forward Cam Donaldson also received honorable mention. It marks the first time since 2014 that Cornell has placed three players on the first team.
Only Ivy League statistics are considered for the All-Ivy squads, creating a unique wrinkle for the teams that play in a league within another league (ECAC Hockey). But for Cornell, the numbers look favorable in just about any light. Currently ranked the No. 10 team in the country in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls, Cornell was 7-2-1 in Ancient Eight games to win the program’s second straight and 23rd overall Ivy League title.
Kaldis becomes the Big Red’s first three-time All-Ivy League first-teamer since Matt Moulson ’06 accomplished the feat from 2004-06 and just the seventh in program history. He had eight points on one goal and seven assists in Ivy League contests. Beyond the offense, Kaldis is also among the Big Red’s leaders in ice time for the season, seeing time on power plays, penalty kills and at even strength.
Barron collects his first All-Ivy honor after scoring four goals and adding six assists for 10 points in Ivy play. The team’s leading overall scorer was also recently named a finalist for ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Forward – a clear nod to his improved two-way game and contributions on faceoffs and penalty-killing.
Easily the biggest surprise of the the first-teamers is McGrath – not because of his performance, but because he only started seven of the Big Red’s 29 regular-season games. Coincidentally, four of those seven starts came in Ivy League games, and his numbers stacked up well against the competition. His 1.94 goals against average led the Ancient Eight, and his .925 save percentage was second only to a goaltender that played even fewer minutes in Ivy League play than him.
Vanderlaan earned his third career All-Ivy League honor, receiving honorable mention for a second straight year. He had three goals and six assists for nine points in Ivy games. Donaldson also earned honorable mention for the first time despite missing two Ivy League games due to injury, still managing to post a point per game on four goals and four assists.
This is only the fourth year of the Ivy League Coach of the Year honor being awarded, with Schafer becoming the first to win the honor multiple times. Under his guidance, Cornell is now 17-2-3 in its last 22 Ivy League games.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Adam Fox, Harvard (Jr., D – Jericho, N.Y.)
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Casey Dornbach, Harvard (Fr., F – Edina, Minn.)
COACH OF THE YEAR
Mike Schafer, Cornell
FIRST TEAM ALL-IVY^
Morgan Barron, Cornell (So., F – Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada)
Ryan Kuffner, Princeton (Sr., F – Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
- Joe Snively, Yale (Sr., F – Herndon, Va.)
Yanni Kaldis, Cornell (Jr., D – Montreal, Quebec, Canada) - Adam Fox, Harvard (Jr., D – Jericho, N.Y.)
Austin McGrath, Cornell (So., G – Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada)
Adrian Clark, Dartmouth (Jr., G – Toronto, Ontario, Canada)
SECOND TEAM ALL-IVY
Tommy Marchin, Brown (Sr., F – Algonac, Mich.)
Drew O’Connor, Dartmouth (Fr., F – Chatham, N.J.)
Max Véronneau, Princeton (Sr., F – Ottawa, Ontario, Canada)
Connor Yau, Dartmouth (Sr., D – Algonquin, Ill.)
Josh Teves, Princeton (Sr., D – Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
Sam Tucker, Yale (Sr., G – Wilton, Conn.)
HONORABLE MENTION ALL-IVY
Mitch Vanderlaan, Cornell (Sr., F – Hanwell, New Brunswick, Canada)
Cam Donaldson, Cornell (So., F – Pittsboro, N.C.)
Casey Dornbach, Harvard (Fr., F – Edina, Minn.)
Zach Giuttari, Brown (Jr., D – Warwick, R.I.)
Reilly Walsh, Harvard (So., D – Andover, N.H.)
- Unanimous Selection
^ First and Second Teams Expanded Due To Ties In Voting
