ESTERO, Fla. — The men’s hockey team’s six-game winning streak came to close Thursday when it suffered a 2-1 overtime loss to Colorado College in the championship game of the Florida College Hockey Classic at Germain Arena.
Nick Halloran scored the winner for the Tigers on a shot from the top of the left circle that sailed through the legs of a would-be shot-blocker and over the right shoulder of goalie Hayden Stewart, giving CC the tournament title. It was Cornell’s ninth appearance in the final game in 17 consecutive years of competing at the tournament.
After an uneventful first period, Colorado College (5-12-1) took the lead early in the second period on a shorthanded breakaway goal by Luc Gerdes. A Big Red player fumbled the puck in open neutral-zone ice, then Gerdes skated in on Stewart and slipped a forehand shot between his legs. It was the first shorthanded goal surrendered by Cornell (8-4-1) this season.
CC threatened again moments later on the same Big Red power play, but Stewart stood his ground to stop a shot from Matt Hansen on a two-on-one rush. The Tigers then enjoyed 56 seconds of a two-man advantage later in the frame, but Stewart stopped the two subsequent shots by Hansen and Teemu Kivihalme.
Cornell’s power play responded just six seconds into its first opportunity of the third period. A tic-tac-toe passing play between senior defenseman Patrick McCarron and sophomore forward Anthony Angello set up senior forward Jake Weidner’s one-timer over the glove of CC goalie Alex Leclerc.
The Big Red had plenty of opportunities for more goals, but was largely unlucky in hitting the frame of the net three times over the course of the night. Leclerc then made a huge glove save on Mitch Vanderlaan’s shot from the shot on the rush with 5:41 left in the regulation, then was fortunate when sophomore defenseman Brendan Smith’s point shot with 2:18 to go was deflected between Leclerc’s legs, only to somehow slither wide.
Weidner and McCarron were named to the all-tournament team after the game, joining Northern Michigan forward Dominik Shine, Merrimack forward Brett Seney, Kivihalme and Leclerc. After holding the Big Red to one goal and shutting out Merrimack the previous night, Leclerc was tabbed as the tournament’s most valuable player.
The Big Red returns to action at 7 p.m., Saturday Jan. 7 with its final non-conference game of the season at Merrimack. The Warriors finished in third place at the FCHC after defeating Northern Michigan, 4-2, in Thursday’s consolation game.
