ITHACA, N.Y. — Christian Hilbrich scored with 9.4 seconds left in the third period on a six-on-four power play, helping the #15/15 Cornell men’s hockey team rally for a 3-3 tie against Brown on Friday night at Lynah Rink. Senior defenseman Reece Willcox assisted on all three Big Red goals.
Cornell (12-7-5, 7-6-4 ECAC Hockey) drew a penalty inside the final two minutes, then pulled goalie Mitch Gillam in favor of an extra attacker to create the two-man advantage. With time winding down, Jeff Kubiak gained possession off a scrum in the left corner of the Brown zone and made a quick backhand pass to send Hilbrich toward goal in the circle. He passed to Willcox crashing from the far point and while Willcox’s shot was saved by Brown goalie Tim Ernst, Hilbrich skated across the crease to bat in the rebound.
The frenetic finish seemed apropos for a back-and-forth affair featuring three lead changes among its six goals. Entering the third tied at 1, Cornell took the lead on freshman forward Anthony Angello’s team-leading ninth goal of the year, also on the power play. Brown answered with Max Willman’s tying goal at the 10:18 mark on a three-on-two, then the Bears took the lead with 6:14 remaining when Zack Pryzbek cashed in a funky bounce off the dashers behind the Cornell goal.
The teams traded shots at either end in the first period, but Brown drew the first two power plays of the game and took advantage. The Big Red had a pair of chances to clear on the penalty kill, but Brown countered with Mark Naclerio feeding Tommy Marchin coming down the slot. A Cornell defenseman blocked the initial shot, but the puck bounced right back to Marchin for a rebound chance the fluttered over the line.
Cornell appeared to equalize on its first power-play opportunity of the game when Mitch Vanderlaan hit the back of the net off a goal-mouth scramble with just one second left before the intermission — but one of the referees had lost sight of the puck and blew his whistle before the goal. That left Brown ahead, 1-0, after the first.
The Big Red started to find traction in the second period and eventually broke through with 2:23 left before the intermission. Dwyer Tschantz drove wide left around his defender, then circled behind the net. His backhand wraparound slid parallel to the goal line across the crease, but Trevor Yates was positioned well to tap in his fifth goal of the year.
Cornell associate head coach Ben Syer remained undefeated when serving as an acting head coach in his career, now standing at a 5-0-2 mark. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer was not on the bench as he continues to recover from a concussion suffered in practice last week.
The Big Red returns home for a showdown against #10/10 Yale at 7 p.m. Saturday. The game is already sold out.
