NEW YORK — Without any victories in its first five Red Hot Hockey games at Madison Square Garden, the Cornell men’s hockey team finally claimed the Kelley-Harkness Cup on Saturday with a 4-3 victory against Boston University in front of 14,606 fans.
Cornell (9-1) held a pair of three-goal leads in the game, but — as has become the norm in these biennial meetings between the storied programs — Boston University (6-8-1) staged a late comeback. This time, the Big Red shrugged off two late strikes from the Terriers to improve to 1-3-2 in the six editions of Red Hot Hockey and hoist the trophy for the first time.
Junior forward Beau Starrett scored on the rush in the first period, then goals 2 minutes, 15 seconds apart by senior forward Trevor Yates and junior defenseman Alec McCrea in the second period gave Cornell — the nation’s seventh-ranked program in both major polls — a commanding 3-0 lead. Yates became the first Big Red player to score three goals at Madison Square Garden in his career.
Strong goaltending from freshman Matthew Galajda kept the Big Red on top entering the final frame. Galajda made big saves on Hank Crone and Shane Bowers during BU’s first power play.
Dante Fabbro was able to break through for the Terriers early in the third period, only to have freshman forward Tristan Mullin counter with his first collegiate goal for Cornell to restore the three-goal cushion. It turned out to be a pivotal goal, with BU staging another dramatic late comeback. The Terriers scored three third-period goals in a 3-3 tie in 2015, they scored in overtime to win in 2011 and they scored the final two goals of a 3-3 tie in 2009.
But this time, Cornell held on — and in doing so, it’s started the season with at least nine victories in its first 10 games for the seventh time. The last time the Big Red was 9-1 at this point of the season was 2002-03. Galajda made a career-high 35 saves to earn the victory.
How The Goals Were Scored:
Cornell’s 1st Goal
1st period, 15:18 • Cornell 1, Boston Univ. 0 • Starrett 1 (Vanderlaan, Green)
• Alex Green started the play from the corner in the Cornell zone, making a pass to send Vanderlaan away through the neutral zone on a two-on-two. As Vanderlaan entered the BU zone, he floated a backhand pass toward Angello driving down the middle. But rather than receive the pass, Angello alertly engaged his defender and let the puck glide into space behind here. Starrett beat his defender back up the ice, scooped up the puck in the slot and snapped a shot over Jake Oettinger’s glove.
Cornell’s 2nd Goal
2nd period, 6:51 • Cornell 2, Boston Univ. 0 • Yates 7 (Barron, Malott)
• Jeff Malott forced a turnover on the forecheck along the left wing as BU was attempting to break out of its zone. Barron gathered before sending a pass in to Yates, who beat his defender to the net. Yates shoveled a shot over Oettinger’s glove to double the Cornell lead.
Cornell’s 3rd Goal
2nd period, 9:06 (PP) • Cornell 3, Boston Univ. 0 • McCrea 4 (Barron, Green)
• On the power play, the Big Red worked the puck around the perimeter. Green’s pass from the right point found Barron on the left side, and he sent McCrea down the half wall. With Malott posted up on top of the crease against his defender, McCrea forced a puck into traffic that caromed off that defender and past Oettinger inside the far post.
BU’s 1st Goal
3rd period, 4:48 (PP) • Cornell 3, Boston Univ. 1 • Fabbro 4 (Carpenter, Krys)
• On the power play, BU held possession along the left wall. Carpenter worked up the half wall while drawing the attention of a second defender, so he whipped the puck to Fabbro wide open at the center point. With a defender coming out to challenge, Fabbro blasted a clapper that beat Matthew Galajda to the stick side.
Cornell’s 4th Goal
3rd period, 11:51 • Cornell 4, Boston Univ. 1 • Mullin 1 (Tschantz, Locke)
• With the puck clattering around in skates in the right corner after good work from linemates Dwyer Tschantz and Brenden Locke, Mullin’s quick stop and start created space between him and his defender. Tschantz nudged the puck back into Mullin’s path toward the bottom of the circle. He kicked it to his stick, then scooped a forehand as he was falling to the ice that sailed over Oettinger’s blocker and inside the far post.
BU’s 2nd Goal
3rd period, 13:45 (PP-EA) • Cornell 4, Boston Univ. 2 • Krys 3 (Carpenter, Fabbro)
• With a power play and the goalie pulled to create a six-on-four advantage, a pass from Carpenter at the top of the left circle teed up Krys for a one-timer from inside the right point. With traffic in front, the puck splashed the net low to Galajda’s glove side.
BU’s 3rd Goal
3rd period, 15:02 • Cornell 4, Boston Univ. 3 • Harper 6 (Tkachuk, Fabbro)
• The Big Red had numbers back and Brady Tkachuk fumbled a pass at the Cornell blue line, so he just poked it toward the right corner. He won the race for the puck and whipped a seemingly harmless shot from the poor angle toward the near post. Galajda made the save, but the puck remained free just off the post long enough for Harper to poke it in and set up a frenetic finish.
Up Next:
• The Big Red closes out its semester with a pair of non-league games Dec. 1-2 at Miami before a four-week hiatus for final exams and the holidays.
