ITHACA, N.Y. — Sophomore forward Noah Bauld recorded a hat trick, and the Cornell men’s hockey team followed up its lofty ascension in the national rankings with a dominating 6-1 victory over St. Lawrence on Friday night at Lynah Rink.
Junior defenseman Brendan Smith and junior forward Anthony Angello had a goal and an assist apiece for Cornell. Freshman forward Kyle Betts had a pair of assists for his first collegiate points, and freshman defenseman Alex Green did the same with his helper in the third period.
Cornell (7-0, 5-0 ECAC Hockey), the last undefeated team in the nation, has started the season with seven victories for the first time since 1971-— when it rattled off eight in a row. The Big Red entered the weekend ranked fifth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and sixth in the USCHO.com poll.
Bauld was inserted back into the lineup on Friday after he was a healthy scratch in last Saturday’s game against Harvard. It’s the first Cornell hat trick this season after it had two last year (Mitch Vanderlaan and Jeff Malott).
“We wanted him to take that extra step as a player and play with confidence offensively and bring pucks to the net and finish,” said Mike Schafer, the Jay R. Bloom ’77 Head Coach of Men’s Hockey at Cornell. “I thought he was so solid in all areas of the ice tonight. He’s got great speed, and he can jump. But he’s a very strong kid for his size, and he brought pucks to the net tonight.
“And the goals,” he added. “A hat trick for the kid to come out like that? It shows that he doesn’t want to come out of the line up again.”
Said Bauld: “Maybe I used it as a little motivation, but we have a deep lineup this year so I work for everything that I can get.”
St. Lawrence (1-11-1, 0-4-1) hung tough in the first half of the first period, but the first Bauld goal was followed up by a strike from freshman forward Morgan Barron just eight seconds later to give the home side a 2-0 lead before the contest was even 12 minutes old.
Freshman Matthew Galajda made his biggest save of the night 7:13 into the second period, getting his blocker to a breakaway shot by Keenan Suthers to keep the Big Red in front by two. He stopped Cade Gleekel’s shot off a lively carom from the back boards on a power play about five minutes later. Galajda finished the night with 15 saves.
Cornell began to pull away on Smith’s unassisted goal with 4:01 remaining in the second, then Bauld’s second wraparound goal of the night opened the flood gates.
The Big Red now turns its attention to battle against another national top-10 team in Clarkson. The #7/8 Golden Knights, who visit Lynah Rink for a game at 7 p.m. Saturday, improved to 9-3-1 overal and a perfect 5-0 in ECAC Hockey play with a 5-2 victory on Friday at Colgate.
“We’re looking forward to playing them,” Schafer said. “We’re both 5-0 in the league, so we know that the game is going to be extremely competitive tomorrow night. … Our series last year was great against them.”
How The Goals Were Scored:
Cornell’s 1st Goal
1st period, 11:34 • Cornell 1, St. Lawrence 0
• Brendan Smith kept the puck in the zone at the left, then weaved through traffic before trading passes with Noah Bauld toward the corner. Smith chipped it back along the end wall and a St. Lawrence defenseman appeared to be in position to take possession, but a strong stick check by Bauld enabled him to keep possession. He circled around the far side of the net on his backhand, then shoveled a backhand along the ice and inside the far post.
Cornell’s 2nd Goal
1st period, 11:42 • Cornell 2, St. Lawrence 0
• St. Lawrence won a faceoff at center ice to its defenseman on the right wing. He drifted toward the wall and tried to advance the puck, but Morgan Barron intercepted and turned back up ice. Working against the same defender, he entered the left circle and ripped a shot from near the dot past Arthur Brey’s blocker and inside the far post.
Cornell’s 3rd Goal
2nd period, 15:59 • Cornell 3, St. Lawrence 0
• Jared Fiegl had the puck along the left half wall when it was swept toward the point by a St. Lawrence defender. Smith kept the zone, then picked a spot to send the puck along the ice, through Fiegl’s screen on top of the crease and under Brey for his second goal of the season.
Cornell’s 4th Goal
2nd period, 17:05 • Cornell 4, St. Lawrence 0
• Jared Fiegl tipped in Alec McCrea’s advance from the neutral zone, then the Big Red won control behind the net with tenacity from Kyle Betts and Bauld. Bauld came out to Brey’s right and made a move to the slot, sliding a forehand underneath the goal for his second wraparound goal of the night.
Cornell’s 5th Goal
3rd period, 13:56 • Cornell 5, St. Lawrence 0
• A long battle along the boards in the right corner eventually led to Angello bringing the puck out of the corner toward goal. The puck bounced off his stick, but no defender could coral it and Angello was able to keep possession and swoop behind the net. His pass toward Yanni Kaldis in the circle hit a St. Lawrence stick and bounced to Alex Green at the center point. With all Saints defenders watching the puck, Green alertly picked out Angello in the left circle for a wide-open one-timer that sailed into the yawning net.
St. Lawrence’s Goal
3rd period, 16:36 • Cornell 5, St. Lawrence 1
• A pair of Big Red penalties bookended one by the Saints, putting the visitors on a 4-on-3 power play. Cornell cleared the puck and Nolan Gluchowski collected behind the St. Lawrence goal, then sent Jacob Pritchard speeding up the left wing. With a defender closing in as he approached the outside hash marks of the left circle, he fired a shot that beat Matthew Galajda high to the far post.
Cornell’s 6th Goal
3rd period, 17:40 • Cornell 5, St. Lawrence 1
• The Big Red won a battle along the boards on the right wing, resulting in Angello taking the puck to the net. The puck was poked off his stick, but caromed to a neighboring Bauld. His reaching forehand was headed across the goal mouth to an open Trevor Yates on the far post, but a Saints defenseman ended up sweeping the puck into his own net.
