#1 Cornell Men’s Hockey Dealt 5-0 Loss By #18 Quinnipiac
HAMDEN, Conn. — Quinnipiac scored three goals in a span of 2 minutes, 36 seconds in the first period Friday, and the Cornell men’s hockey team never recovered in a 5-0 loss at People’s United Center.
The loss ended an eight-game unbeaten streak for Cornell (14-2-4, 9-2-2 ECAC Hockey), which is ranked #1 in the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll for a third straight week. Keith Petruzzelli posted a 22-save shutout for 18th-ranked Quinnipiac (15-9-1, 8-4-1). It marked the first time the Big Red has been blanked in a regular-season game since Feb. 9, 2018, and it was the first time Cornell yielded more than three goals this season – let alone four.
“It was about as ugly as it gets,” said Mike Schafer ’86, the Jay R. Bloom ’77 Head Coach of Men’s Hockey at Cornell.
While it didn’t take long for the Bobcats to seize control, the hosts needed some quality saves from Petruzzelli to keep the Big Red from drawing first blood. Junior forward Morgan Barron had a clean shot from the right circle on the rush just 29 seconds into the game, but Petruzzelli got just enough of the puck to send it wide of the near post.
A little shy of the game’s 4-minute mark, junior forward Cam Donaldson forced a turnover behind the Bobcats net to set up freshman forward Ben Berard for a wide-open shot from the low slot, but Petruzzelli again made the save. Next up was senior forward Jeff Malott’s shot on a two-on-one that was turned aside by Petruzzelli’s stick.
Quinnipiac took over from there. Nick Jermain scored twice around Zach Metsa’s goal, and the Bobcats went from absorbing body blows to flexing a 3-0 lead.
“We obviously had a couple scoring chances early on, but then we turn a puck over and they score. We don’t pick up (a player) in front of the net; they score,” Schafer said. “Now we’re behind the 8-ball for the rest of the night chasing a team that can stay above you. For the rest of the night, they did a great job of beating us to loose pucks, winning puck battles. They beat us in just about every facet of the game.”
It was unchartered territory for the Big Red, which had yet to face a deficit of multiple goals this season. The start of the second period showed hopes of a spark when sophomore forward Michael Regush rang a shot off the post from the slot, then freshman defenseman Sam Malinski took a shot 17 seconds later that bounced off the base of the net just outside the near post.
Quinnipiac added a fourth goal from Alex Whelan in the second, then TJ Friedmann’s first of the year early in the third capped the scoring.
The only question remaining was if Petruzzelli could hold on for a shutout, and it looked like he had lost the bid when Barron was ruled to have scored a goal with 10:46 remaining. But Quinnipiac challenged the play, and the referees waived off the goal upon video review with a ruling that Barron had pushed Petruzzelli’s pad into the net to cause the puck to go over the goal line.
Frankly, it was just that kind of night for Cornell.
“It’s a disappointing night all around,” Schafer said. “Credit to (Quinnipiac). They played well. But we’ve got some things that we’ve got to get back to to find out what our true identity is.”
(Photo: Cornell Men’s Hockey)
