ITHACA, N.Y. — Senior forward Trevor Yates set up junior defenseman Matt Nuttle’s goal early in the first period before scoring two power-play goals of his own, and freshman goaltender Matthew Galajda had to make just 11 saves for his first collegiate shutout to help the Cornell men’s hockey team to an opening-weekend series sweep of Alabama-Huntsville via 3-0 victory on Saturday night at Lynah Rink.
Cornell (2-0) picked up where it left off following Friday’s 5-1 victory over UAH (1-5) — both offensively and defensively. It took just 3 minutes, 5 seconds for the Big Red to take the lead after its first of seven successful penalty kills of the night. Freshman forward Morgan Barron created a scoring chance on the right wing, then Yates made a smart little pass off the rebound to a wide-open Nuttle gliding down the slot. Nuttle then flipped a shot over the glove of UAH goalie Jordan Uhelski.
Meanwhile, the Big Red stifled the Chargers essentially from start to finish. In addition to being a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill, Cornell had more blocked shots (17) than UAH was able to direct on goal (11) for the entire game.
Alabama-Huntsville’s had one of its best chances shortly after the completion of a Cornell power play in the game’s seventh minute. Tyler Poulsen came out of the box and immediately found himself one-on-one with Galajda, but the freshman goaltender got his legs closed in time to thwart the backhand.
The Chargers pressed hard on power plays early in the second period, coming within inches of equalizing at the 3:30 mark when a one-timer from Kurt Gosselin rang off the near post.
But Cornell went on its own power plays and doubled its lead just shy of the game’s midway mark. After a series of perimeter passes, sophomore Yanni Kaldis zipped a penetrating pass to senior forward Trevor Yates standing off the edge of the crease to Uhelski’s left. He whipped in a shot along the ice toward the far post.
Yates then closed the scoring in the third period, converting from the slot after an odd-man rush was broken up. Kaldis recorded his second assist of the night, and junior forward Anthony Angello had his second helper in as many nights.
Now off to its fourth 2-0 start in the last six years, the Big Red opens ECAC Hockey play next weekend with a 7 p.m. Friday game at Quinnipiac and 7 p.m. Saturday Ivy League contest at Princeton.
