AMHERST, Mass. — Freshman forward Gio DiGiulian scored for the second consecutive night, and stellar goaltending from freshman Alexis Cournoyer propelled the No. 20-ranked Cornell men’s hockey team to a 3-1 victory over No. 13 UMass at the Mullins Center on Saturday night.
Power-play goals from sophomore forward Charlie Major and freshman defenseman Xavier Veilleux broke open a 1-1 game, giving the Big Red (1-1-0) all the cushion it would need. Cournoyer, who was making his first career start and appearance, stopped 33 of 34 shots in the winning effort.
Casey Jones ’90, the Jay R. Bloom ’77 Head Coach of Cornell Men’s Ice Hockey, opted to give Cournoyer his first collegiate start after senior Remington Keopple started Friday night’s opener.
“There’s competition at that position,” Jones said. “We felt [Cournoyer] earned playing time with his preseason and what he’s shown. I thought he answered the bell. He was calm and made some key saves for us. I was impressed with him for his first game.”
Mikey DeAngelo scored the lone goal for UMass (6-3-0), while Michael Hrabal made 25 saves in the loss.
DiGiulian gave Cornell a 1-0 lead just 1:41 into the contest. An aggressive forecheck by senior forward Nick DeSantis forced a UMass defender into a hurried backhand pass that junior forward Luke Devlin intercepted. DiGiulian one-timed Devlin’s feed at the left post for his second goal in as many nights.
UMass answered late in the first period when Jack Musa used a slick deke to beat sophomore defenseman Michael Fisher, setting up DeAngelo for a one-timer from the right faceoff dot with 4:44 remaining to tie the game.
Major restored Cornell’s lead with 3:38 left in the second period on the power play. Junior forward Ryan Walsh fed Major under the goal line, and his quick shot deflected off a UMass defender’s skate and in. Freshman forward Caton Ryan earned the secondary assist.
“Last night, their penalty kill frustrated us a little bit,” Jones said. “Tonight, I thought we won faceoffs, which gave us possession, and we stuck to the game plan with an attacking mentality. To bounce back and get it done on special teams, I was really excited.”
Veilleux ultimately iced the victory on a 5-on-3 advantage with under eight minutes remaining in regulation, burying his first career goal after Walsh set him up following extended offensive zone pressure. Major added the secondary helper, capping multi-point nights for him and Walsh.
Jones offered high praise for the freshman defenseman, who has quickly become a fixture on Cornell’s top defensive pairing.
“The one thing about Xavier is, he’s won wherever he’s been,” Jones said. “He plays a really good team game with good hockey sense. It was hard to imagine him being this ready. He’s fitting seamlessly here with us.”
