Game 35 • Cornell vs. Northeastern
NCAA Midwest Regional Semifinal
Faceoff: Saturday, March 28, at 4:00 p.m.
Site: Van Andel Arena (10,834) • Grand Rapids, Mich.

The Basics
2008-09 Records: Cornell (21-9-4, 13-6-3 ECAC Hockey) • Northeastern (25-11-4, 18-6-3 Hockey East)
Series Record: Cornell leads, 13-2-0
Last Meeting: Cornell won, 3-0, on Dec. 27, 2005, in Estero, Fla. (Florida College Classic Semifinal)

Media Information
Television: ESPNU • Ben Holden (play-by-play), Sean Ritchlin (color)
Radio: WHCU 870 AM • Jason Weinstein (play-by-play)
Live Stats: www.CornellBigRed.com
Live Video: none
Live Audio: www.CornellBigRed.com
Tickets: Available by calling (607) 254-BEAR or through Ticketmaster.com

NCAA Midwest Regional Notes In PDF Format

ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Cornell men's hockey team returns to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006 on Saturday, March 28, when it faces Northeastern of Hockey East in the first round of the Midwest Regional at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. Saturday's game will begin at 4 p.m. and will be televised live on ESPNU. The other semifinal pits top-seeded Notre Dame against fourth-seeded Bemidji State in a 7:30 p.m. contest. Cornell's game can be heard on the radio on WHCU 870 AM in the Ithaca area with Jason Weinstein providing the call. Additionally, live audio of the game will be available through the Cornell RedCast subscription service.

Cornell advanced to the NCAA tournament for the 17th time in school history after gaining an at-large selection into the field of 16 teams. The Big Red (21-9-4) finished the regular season in second place in ECAC Hockey, three points behind first-place Yale. Cornell also advanced to the championship game of the ECAC Hockey tournament after a 4-3 double-overtime victory over Princeton in the semifinals before falling in the title match to Yale, 5-0, on Saturday night in Albany, N.Y. The Big Red enters the postseason with a 6-4 mark in its last 10 games.

Cornell is paced offensively by sophomore Riley Nash (13-21--34) and junior Colin Greening (14-15--29), with junior Blake Gallagher (6-20--26) and senior Evan Barlow (12-13--25) joining them in scoring more than 20 points this season. Junior Brendon Nash is the highest-scoring defenseman, collecting two goals and 15 assists this season for 17 points. In goal, junior Ben Scrivens has a 1.77 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage.

Cornell is led by head coach Mike Schafer, who has compiled a 275-148-49 record and is in his 14th season. Schafer has guided the Big Red to four ECAC Hockey championships and six NCAA tournament berths during his tenure. Additionally, he led the Big Red to its last NCAA Frozen Four appearance in Buffalo in 2003. Schafer is assisted by associate head coach Casey Jones, assistant coach Scott Garrow and volunteer goaltender coach Ian Burt.

ABOUT NORTHEASTERN
Northeastern (25-11-4) fell in the semifinals of the Hockey East tournament on Friday night to Massachusetts-Lowell, 3-2 in overtime, at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Mass. The Huskies are 5-3-2 in their last 10 games this season. Northeastern is paced offensively by sophomore Wade MacLeod (14-21--35) and senior Ryan Ginand (20-12--32), though the pair is joined by another four players with 20 points or more this season (senior Joe Vitale (7-20--27), freshman Steve Quailer (10-15--25), freshman Alex Tuckerman (8-14--22) and sophomore Tyler McNeely (8-12--20). In goal for the Huskies all season long has been junior Brad Thiessen, the nation's leader in minutes played and saves. Thiessen, a Hobey Baker Award finalist, has a .932 save percentage to go along with a 2.09 goals-against average. The Huskies have converted on 15.2 percent of their power play chances (34-of-223) and have killed off 86.4 percent of opponents' power plays (190-of-220).

THE ALL-TIME SERIES WITH NORTHEASTERN
Cornell leads the all-time series against the Huskies, 13-2-0, and won the last meeting between the two teams on Dec. 27, 2005, by a 3-0 score in the Florida College Classic in Estero, Fla. Saturday's game will mark the first time the two teams have met in postseason play. Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is 3-0 all-time against the Huskies.

CORNELL IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Cornell is making its 17th appearance in the NCAA tournament, and the Big Red holds a 16-17 record all-time in NCAA play. The Big Red has claimed a pair of national titles in 1967 and 1970, with the 1970 team finishing as the only unbeaten, untied NCAA championship team. In Cornell's last NCAA tournament game, the Big Red battled into the third overtime against Wisconsin in Green Bay, Wis., before falling, 1-0, setting a record for the longest game in Cornell history at 111:13 and the second-longest game in NCAA tournament history.

CORNELL VS. THE MIDWEST REGIONAL FIELD
Cornell and Northeastern are joined at the Midwest Regional in Grand Rapids, Mich., by Notre Dame and Bemidji State. Cornell and Notre Dame have met four times, with the Fighting Irish holding a 3-1 lead in the all-time series. Cornell and Notre Dame last met on Dec. 27, 2003, in Estero, Fla., with the Big Red posting a 4-0 victory. Bemidji State, meanwhile, is one of six current Division I hockey teams that the Big Red has never played. Should the two lower seeds prevail in both semifinal games on Saturday, it would set up the first-ever meeting between the Big Red and the Beavers.

CORNELL VS. THE NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD
Cornell has played against three of the remaining 15 teams in this year's NCAA tournament field in a combined eight games this season, playing one team in each of the other three regions. Cornell went 1-1 on a trip to North Dakota (Northeast Region #2) over Thanksgiving, was 2-1 against Princeton (West Region #3) and 0-3 against Yale (East Region #2).

CORNELL IN THE PLAYOFFS
Cornell has traditonally been a tough team to beat, posting an all-time winning percentage of .602 (964-622-98), and the Big Red is even better in the post-season. All-time, Cornell holds a 103-57-4 record in post season play (.644), with an 87-41-4 record in ECAC Hockey tournament action (.677) to go along with the Big Red's 16-17 NCAA tournament record.

MIKE SCHAFER AND THE PLAYOFFS
Cornell head coach Mike Schafer has guided the Big Red to four ECAC Hockey tournament titles in his 14 seasons behind the Cornell bench. Schafer has guided the Big Red to a 37-16-2 record in the ECAC Hockey playoffs over the years to go along with a 6-6 mark in NCAA tournament play for a 42-22-2 mark in post-season action (.652).

AND, SOME SINGLE DIGITS
When Cornell held Rensselaer to nine shots in game two of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals on March 14 at Lynah Rink, the Big Red defense tied a program record for fewest shots allowed in a game. Cornell has held its opposition to just nine shots now six times, with five of those resulting in a shutout. Cornell's six games of allowing nine shots are listed below:
    • 12/3/63 vs. American International (7-0)
    • 2/11/67 vs. Dartmouth (7-0)
    • 1/8/69 vs. Pennsylvania (14-0)
    • 2/7/04 vs. Vermont (1-0)
    • 10/29/04 vs. Army (7-1)
    • 3/14/09 vs. Rensselaer (4-0)

PLAYOFF PROWESS
Even though he's just in his second year with the Big Red, Riley Nash has played in 12 playoff games and is averaging a point per game in the post-season. Nash has 12 points on three goals and nine assists in 12 career playoff games. He added to his total by scoring the game-tying goal in the ECAC Hockey semifinal game against Princeton with 24.1 seconds left in regulation. Senior Evan Barlow, meanwhile, also has five points in five games this postseason on five goals.

FREE HOCKEY
Cornell's double-overtime win over Princeton in the ECAC Hockey semifinals on March 20 was the 21st time in program history that Cornell has played an overtime playoff game. Cornell is 12-6-3 in playoff games that go to overtime. When those games go beyond one period, the Big Red is 6-1, with the lone loss being the triple-overtime defeat against Wisconsin in the NCAA Midwest Regional final in Green Bay, Wis., in 2006.

BEEN HERE BEFORE
This weekend's regional will mark the second time that Cornell has played in the NCAA tournament at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Mich. In the Big Red's first trip in 1997, Cornell defeated Miami (Ohio), 4-2, in the semifinal before falling to North Dakota, 6-2, in the regional championship. North Dakota would go on to win the NCAA tournament that season.

NOT JUST NCAA TOURNAMENT
The season after the Big Red played at Van Andel Arena in the NCAA tournament, Cornell made a regular-season trip to the facility for the Pepsi Tournament between Christmas and New Year's in 1997. The Big Red lost the rematch against the Fighting Sioux, 5-1, but won the consolation game against Western Michigan, 3-2.

CORNELL IN MICHIGAN
The Wolverine State has not been kind to Cornell hockey over the years, as the Big Red has a 7-10-2 all-time record in Michigan. Cornell has played at seven different venues in Michigan, with Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids and Yost Ice Arena in Ann Arbor tied with four visits from the Big Red.

HOME AGAIN
Saturday's game will be a homecoming for senior Derek Punches, who grew up in Michigan and played his first three years of college hockey for the now-defunct Wayne State program before transferring to Cornell. Punches is a native of Manchester, Mich., a 134-mile drive from Grand Rapids.

THE CENTURY MARK
Colin Greening's appearance in the Big Red's ECAC Hockey semifinal win over Princeton on March 20 was the 100th game of his career at Cornell. The junior co-captain has not missed a game in his three seasons on East Hill, and showed a flair for the dramatic when he scored the game-winning goal midway through the second overtime period against the Tigers. Classmate Justin Krueger will make his 100th appearance with his next game for the Big Red, while fellow junior Blake Gallagher has appeared in 97 games in his career. In all, now six current players have played in 100 games or more, led by seniors Michael Kennedy and Jared Seminoff, who have both played in 128 games. Tyler Mugford has appeared in 125 games, with Evan Barlow in 124 and Derek Punches in 123. For Punches, the first 104 of his career came as a player at Wayne State, which folded its program after last season.

POWER SURGE
Cornell's game against Rensselaer on March 14, while not setting a record for the most penalties in a game by an opponent or most penalty minutes, did result in the Big Red crushing the old record of power play attempts in a game. Against the Engineers in game two of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, the Big Red had 18 power-play chances, destroying the old high of 13 power-play chances set twice previously. Cornell went 1-for-13 on the man advantage on March 11, 2006, in a 3-2 double-overtime playoff win over Clarkson at Lynah Rink, and had another 1-for-13 showing on Dec. 1, 2006, against Rensselaer in a 3-3 overtime tie, also at Lynah Rink.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO...
Six Big Red players were honored in the annual voting of the ECAC Hockey coaches, led by first-team all-league honoree Riley Nash and Tyler Mugford, who was named the league's top defensive forward. Juniors Colin Greening, Brendon Nash and Ben Scrivens were each named second-team all-league, while freshman Keir Ross was named to the all-rookie team. A full listing of the all-league awards is on page 8.

LET'S GO TO THE POLLS
With the split last weekend against Princeton and Yale, the Big Red held steady in the USCHO/CBS College Sports Poll and moved up one spot in the USA Hockey/USA Today poll. The Big Red is now ranked ninth in both national polls.

BACK WHERE WE BELONG
Cornell's second-place finish in the ECAC Hockey regular-season standings marked the first time since the 2004-05 season that the Big Red was either the regular-season champion or runner-up. Cornell finished fifth last season after taking fourth place in 2006-07 and third in 2005-06.

STARTING EARLY
A big key to Cornell's success this season has been jumping out in front early, as the Big Red holds a 12-1 mark this season when leading after one period. That number grows to 17-1 when leading at the second intermission. Conversely, the Big Red is 0-4-2 when trailing after the first period and just 2-7-1 when trailing at the second intermission. Cornell's wins when trailing at the end of the second period have both come recently, as the Big Red rallied from a two-goal deficit early in the third period to score a 3-2 overtime win against Brown on Feb. 28, and, more recently, scoring twice in the final three minutes to tie the score at three against Princeton in the ECAC Hockey semifinals, eventually winning in the second overtime period.

MR. CLUTCH
While senior Evan Barlow may not be scoring goals as often as he might like, he's certainly shown a flair for the dramatic when lighting the lamp this season. Five of Barlow's 12 goals have served as the game-winner this season. Barlow ranks tied for seventh in the nation in game-winning goals.

MUGFORD AND THE TIGERS
As the ECAC Hockey's Best Defensive Forward, Tyler Mugford isn't responsible for providing offense, but he's had success in his career against Princeton. Mugford has eight goals and 17 assists in his career, with three of those goals and two of those assists coming against the Tigers. Of Mugford's three goals against Princeton, two have come this season, including the game-winner in the Big Red's season opening 1-0 win on Nov. 7 in Princeton, N.J.

FOUR USUALLY EQUALS A WIN
The Feb. 13 game at Dartmouth had a rare feel to it when the Big Red scored four goals in a losing effort for the first time in two and a half years. Cornell's last four-goal output in a loss came on Nov. 25, 2006, in a 5-4 defeat at the hands of Wayne State at Lynah Rink. That game was notable in that it marked the collegiate debut of Ben Scrivens, then a freshman, and was also the first appearance at Lynah Rink for current Cornell senior Derek Punches, who was a sophomore that season at Wayne State. Under head coach Mike Schafer, Cornell has lost only 10 games when scoring four or more goals.

LAST-SECOND LOSS
For the first time this season, the Big Red dropped a contest in which it was leading at the second intermission when it fell, 2-1, to Princeton on Feb. 7 at Lynah Rink. The Big Red entered that game a perfect 13-0-0 when leading after two, but the Tigers scored twice in the final 36 seconds to steal the victory. Since the start of the 2002-03 season, Cornell holds a 113-4-7 record when leading at the end of two periods.

DOUBLE SQUADOOSH
After going the entire history of Cornell hockey with just one 0-0 tie for the first 90 seasons, there's been a sudden outbreak of double goose-egg scores over the past two years. Cornell went nearly 85 years between the first one, a tie with Clarkson on Jan. 20, 1923, and the second, which happened on Nov. 30, 2007, at Lynah Rink against Massachusetts. This season, though, there have been a pair of scoreless ties, first on Nov. 8 at Quinnipiac and the second on Jan. 31 at Clarkson. Cornell also had a 0-0 scoreless tie against the Knights in the postseason on March 4, 1989, at Walker Arena in Potsdam, N.Y.

SHUTOUT NUMBER SEVEN
Ben Scrivens continues his assault on David McKee's single-season shutout mark of 10, picking up his seventh clean sheet in game two of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series against Rensselaer on March 14. Scrivens currently leads the nation with seven shutouts.

NOT SO FRIENDLY NORTH COUNTRY
The Jan. 30-31 games continued a trend of the Big Red struggling at the site of the northern-most members of ECAC Hockey. This year's senior class will close out its career having never won a game in the North Country, as the Big Red has gone 0-3-1 at St. Lawrence's Appleton Arena and 0-2-2 at Clarkson's Cheel Arena over the past four seasons.

DiLEO'S LYNAH DEBUT
Senior Dan DiLeo made just the second appearance of his career on Feb. 21, coming on for the final 1:25 of the Big Red's 5-2 win over Union. DiLeo made a save on the only shot he faced during that time, which was his first appearance in front of the Lynah Faithful. DiLeo's first collegiate appearance came in the consolation game of the ECAC Hockey tournament last season, playing the final 3:11 of the Big Red's win over Colgate.

GOING TO THE BULLPEN
Freshman goaltender Michael Garman made just his second appearance of the season on Jan. 30 against St. Lawrence, coming on in relief of starter Ben Scrivens midway through the second period. Garman stopped 12 of the 15 shots he faced during the contest against the Saints. The Vail, Colo., native made his collegiate debut on Nov. 27 at North Dakota, stopping eight of the 10 shots he faced against the Sioux.

BAD BEATS
The seven-goal margin of defeat on Jan. 30 at St. Lawrence for the Big Red provided the worst loss since Cornell dropped an 11-0 contest at Yale on Feb. 6, 1998. Additionally, that game against the Bulldogs marked the last time the Big Red allowed eight or more goals in a game.

ON THE REBOUND
The Feb. 13 loss to Dartmouth marked the first time this season – and first time in almost exactly a year – that the Big Red dropped a pair of games in a row. Cornell fell on Feb. 7 to Princeton, 2-1, before dropping a contest on Feb. 13 at Dartmouth, 5-4 in overtime. Cornell then fell the next night at Harvard, 4-2 for its first three-game losing skid since  Feb. 8-15, 2008, when Cornell dropped three straight games against Clarkson, St. Lawrence and Union.

SNUB THIS
When Riley Nash was released from the Canadian Junior National Team camp on Dec. 15, he could have taken the snub one of two ways: sulking, or proving his worth. Well, the sophomore has chosen the latter path, to the tune of scoring 27 points on 10 goals and 17 assists in the 26 ensuing contests. Nash also struck for his first three-point game of the season on Jan. 16 at Union, then added a four-point game in the return game against the Dutchmen on Feb. 21 with two goals and two assists.

FRESHMAN TO FRESHMAN TO FRESHMAN
Sean Collins' goal on Jan. 24 against Brown marked the first time this season that three freshmen combined for all the scoring on a goal. The two assists went to Keir Ross and Sean Whitney, the second assist on the season for both players.

EXTRA, EXTRA!
Brendon Nash's extra-attacker goal in the closing seconds of the Jan. 23 loss to Yale was the first such goal for the Big Red since Raymond Sawada scored one on March 8, 2008, in game two of the ECAC Hockey first-round series against Dartmouth. Cornell hasn't had many chances for an extra attacker goal this season, as the Big Red has had an empty net for just 9:47 of the 1946:10 minutes this season - with 3:01 of that time coming in the loss to Yale at Lynah Rink on Jan. 23. The Big Red added another extra attacker goal in the return game at Yale, with Evan Barlow scoring with the Big Red's goal empty in the 4-2 loss on Feb. 27. Barlow then scored with 24.1 seconds left and the extra skater on in the ECAC Hockey semifinal win over Princeton on March 20 in Albany, N.Y.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING!
Cornell's 10-game unbeaten streak that was snapped on Jan. 23 against Yale was the longest such streak since the 2004-05 season, when the Big Red went a span of 19 games without a defeat. Over the course of that streak in 2004-05, the Big Red went 18-0-1, won the ECAC Hockey tournament title with a 3-1 victory over Harvard, and advanced to the NCAA regional final before falling at Minnesota, 2-1, in overtime.

THIS IS SPORTSCENTER
While senior Evan Barlow scored what would turn out to be the game-winning goal on the power play in the first period on Jan. 16 at Union, it was his effort on the other end of the ice that found him on SportsCenter. With Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens at the bench on a delayed penalty call, the Big Red was in control of the puck in the neutral zone. A backwards pass from Riley Nash missed its mark, and the puck went slowly skidding along toward the Cornell goal. Barlow slipped twice but regained his feet and got enough momentum to make a diving effort to sweep the puck to the side of the goal post with just a foot and a half to go before crossing the goal line. That play wound up as the number nine play on that night's SportsCenter.

THREE FOR ALL
Riley Nash's three-point outing on Jan. 16 at Union was the first three-point performance for the Big Red this season. Nash became the first player to record three points in a game since Michael Kennedy tallied three assists in the ECAC Hockey consolation game against Colgate on March 22, 2008.

FOUR SQUARE
Riley Nash also recorded Cornell's first four-point game of the year when he scored two goals and had two assists in the Big Red's 5-2 win over Union on Feb. 17. On the season, Nash has seven points in the two meetings against the Dutchmen.

BROTHERLY LOVE
There must be something about lining up against a purple uniform that triggers an offensive outburst among the Kennedy family. Brothers Michael and Patrick both tallied a pair of goals and an assist each as Cornell swept Niagara at Lynah Rink on Jan. 9-10.

LAST ONE STANDING
Freshman Locke Jillson is the lone remaining skater on the 2008-09 roster that has yet to be whistled for a penalty after Joe Scali earned two minutes in the box on Jan. 23 against Yale. Jillson has appeared in 28 games and tallied a goal and eight assists, all without being penalized.

FIVE SPOT
Junior Blake Gallagher had a streak of five games with a point snapped in the 3-0 win over Niagara on Jan. 9. The Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, native had his first two goals of the season in that stretch and a two-assist performance on Dec. 27 against St. Cloud State.

UNBEATEN THROUGH EIGHT
When Cornell opened the ECAC Hockey slate with a 6-0-2 mark through the first eight games, the Big Red entered rare territory. Cornell's last time being undefeated after eight league games came during the legendary 1969-70 undefeated, untied national championship season. Cornell last went seven league games without a defeat in 2003-04 before suffering a 2-1 overtime loss to Brown in its eighth game.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO...
A trio of players were recognized for their play at the Florida College Classic, as Blake Gallagher and Brendon Nash were both selected to the all-tournament team. Additionally, goaltender Ben Scrivens received the Shawn Walsh Trophy as the tournament's most valuable player. Cornell won the tournament for the third time in program history, tying Maine for the most championships won in the nine-year tournament.

AND THEN THERE WERE SIX
When Cornell and St. Cloud State met in the opening round of the Florida College Classic on Dec. 27, the list of current NCAA Division I programs that Cornell has never faced dropped to six.The Big Red has never played against Bemidji State of College Hockey America, Alaska-Anchorage and Nebraska-Omaha of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association and Bentley, Connecticut and Holy Cross of Atlantic Hockey.

SUNSHINE STATE SUCCESS
The Big Red has already claimed one trophy this season, picking up a tournament victory at the Florida College Classic with a 3-2 win over St. Cloud State and a 2-2 overtime tie against Colgate in the championship game, winning the title in a shootout. The Big Red has now claimed three Florida College Classic championships, including the titles won in 2003 and 2005. Cornell now is 7-8-3 all-time in nine appearances at the Florida College Classic.

TWO-FER
Sophomore Joe Devin scored the first two-goal game of his career when he tallied a pair of markers on Dec. 27 against St. Cloud State. Devin scored the tying goal just 20 seconds after the Huskies took the lead, then added the game-winner later in that same period. Devin now has eight goals and four assists in 25 games this season after adding his second career two-goal game on Jan. 24 against Brown. Devin has missed each of the last eight games due to injury.

MUGFORD'S BACK
Senior Tyler Mugford returned to the Cornell lineup on Dec. 5 against Clarkson after missing five games with a leg injury and immediately provided a spark to the offense. The senior picked up a pair of assists in the game to give him four points for the season, and has since added another three goals for seven points on the year to tie his previous single-season high, set as a freshman in 2005-06.

DISCIPLINED HOCKEY
Another reason the Big Red has been so solid on defense this season has come from Cornell's current ranking as the ninth-least penalized team in the nation. The Big Red averages just 13.1 minutes in the penalty box per game. Princeton leads the nation in that category, averaging just 10.6 minutes per game in penalties.

FROM THE DEPTHS
All 23 players who made the trip to North Dakota saw playing time, including the final two members of the freshman class to appear in a regular-season game for the Big Red. Mike Garman came on in relief of Ben Scrivens in the third period of Friday night's 7-3 loss, while Sean Whitney made his collegiate debut in Saturday night's 2-1 victory.

SCORING THE SHORTIES
After going all of the 2007-08 season without a short-handed goal, the Big Red has tallied a pair of them already this season. Michael Kennedy scored a short-handed goal in the 2-1 win against North Dakota on Nov. 29, the first such goal for the Big Red in 49 games. More recently, Riley Nash scored a short-handed goal in the 3-2 win over St. Cloud State on Dec. 27 in Estero, Fla. Prior to Kennedy's goal, the last player to score a short-handed goal was Mark McCutcheon, who tallied one on Feb. 10, 2007, at Rensselaer. McCutcheon's came one game after Mitch Carefoot scored one at Union, marking the last time a short-handed goal was scored in back-to-back games.

RARE OCCURRENCES
The seven goals allowed by the Big Red on Nov. 28 at North Dakota were the most surrendered by the Cornell defense since allowing a seven-spot at Rensselaer on Feb. 26, 1999, in a 7-5 loss to the Engineers. Cornell's last time allowing six goals or more came during Thanksgiving weekend last season, when Cornell allowed six goals to Boston University in a 6-3 defeat at Madison Square Garden.

HATS OFF TO YOU
North Dakota forward Matt Frattin's hat trick against Cornell on Nov. 29 was a rare occurrence, as the last time an opposing player scored three goals against the Big Red came 328 games previously when Ohio State's Hugo Boisvert tallied three goals on Jan. 15, 1999. Frattin's mark stood until the ECAC Hockey championship game, when Yale's Sean Backman scored three goals in the Bulldogs' 5-0 win.

CORNELL AGAINST THE WCHA
With Cornell limited to seven non-conference games per year, games against Western Collegiate Hockey Association members have been few and far between, but Cornell has added a full 10 percent onto its all-time total against that league this season. Entering the year, Cornell had only played a total of 30 games against WCHA members, posting a 14-15-1 mark against those 10 schools. This season, Cornell has moved to .500 all-time against the WCHA with a 2-1 record, scoring a 2-1 win over North Dakota and a 3-2 win over St. Cloud State. The lone loss was a 7-3 defeat at the hands of the Fighting Sioux to open the two-game set on Nov. 28. Cornell holds a winning record against Alaska-Fairbanks (1-0), Colorado College (3-1), Minnesota-Duluth (1-0-1), Minnesota State (1-0) and St. Cloud State (1-0), while posting a sub-.500 mark against Minnesota (0-2), North Dakota (2-4) and Wisconsin (2-4).

GO WEST, YOUNG MAN
The Nov. 28-29 series at North Dakota was the first regular-season trip west for the Big Red since playing Wisconsin in the Badger Showdown in 1998 in Milwaukee. Prior to the series in Grand Forks, each of Cornell's first nine games against WCHA foes during the tenure of head coach Mike Schafer had come in either an in-season tournament or in the NCAA tournament.

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE
In each of the first six games of the season, the Big Red held its opposition to two goals or fewer, with Colgate being the only team to put more than one puck in the goal in a 2-2 tie on Nov. 15 at Lynah Rink. That streak was snapped in game seven when North Dakota scored seven times against the Big Red. Cornell last put together such a streak to open the year in the 2004-05 season, going 10 straight games of allowing two goals or fewer, surrendering just 13 total goals over that span with a pair of shutouts. Still, Cornell has only allowed more than two goals in a game just nine times through the first 34 games of the season.

BREAK OUT THE BROOMS
Cornell's sweep of Harvard and Dartmouth on Nov. 21-22 marked the first time that the Big Red took a pair of victories in the same weekend against its colorful Ivy brethren since Dartmouth and Harvard were matched up as travel partners prior to the 2005-06 season. Previously, Cornell had endured five splits and one weekend sweep at the hands of the the Crimson and Big Green.

HEY, YOU'RE NOT ST. LAWRENCE!
Sophomore Riley Nash posted a pair of goals in the Big Red's 2-1 win over Harvard on Nov. 21, the first time in his young career that he has had a two-goal game against a team other than St. Lawrence. In four career games against the Saints, Nash has struck for five goals. While Nash had 10 multi-point games last season to lead the Big Red, he only had the two two-goal contests among those.

LATE STARTS
Cornell's Nov. 15 home opener marked the latest home opener in program history since the 1996-97 season, when Cornell also played its first home game on the midpoint of the 11th month. That season, Cornell defeated Vermont, 6-4, on its way to a 21-9-5 record and a berth in the NCAA tournament. The last time Cornell had a home opener later than Nov. 15 was in 1993-94 when the Big Red opened its home slate on Nov. 19 against Harvard.

LATE STARTS, PART TWO
Not only was Cornell's season opener on Nov. 7 the latest for the Big Red since head coach Mike Schafer's second year in 1996-97 when Cornell opened on Nov. 8, it also made the Big Red the last team in Division I college hockey to play its first regular-season game. The late start parallels that of the Cornell football team, which was scheduled to be the last team in Division I to begin play this season with its game at Bucknell on Sept. 20.

PENALTY SHOT BONANZA
Just four games into the 2008-09 season, the Big Red had already seen a pair of penalty shots this year – one for and one against the Big Red. Cornell's Evan Barlow was awarded a penalty shot on Nov. 8 at Quinnipiac, which was saved by the Bobcats' Nick Pisellini, while Colgate's Brian Day was awarded a penalty shot against the Big Red on Nov. 15, which he slid between the legs of Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens. Since 2000, there have been 10 penalty shots called in games involving Cornell, with seven of those coming since the start of the 2006-07 season.

SCRIVENS AND THE SHOT
Cornell goaltender Ben Scrivens keeps finding ways to put himself into the record books. On Nov. 15 against Colgate, he became the first Cornell goaltender in program history to have faced three penalty shots. Scrivens stopped the first one he faced in his collegiate debut against Wayne State's Tylor Michel on Nov. 25, 2006, then allowed a goal to Quinnipiac's Mike Atkinson on Nov. 3, 2007, before allowing a goal to Colgate's Brian Day on Nov. 15, 2008. Interestingly enough, all three penalty shots faced by Scrivens occurred during the month of November, and all three have come at Lynah Rink.

THE CURSE OF JOE NIEUWENDYK
When Joe Nieuwendyk scored on a penalty shot against Rensselaer's Steve Duncan in the third period of a 6-1 Cornell victory on Feb. 27, 1987, little did he know that more than 22 years later, he still had scored the most recent penalty shot goal in Cornell history. Since then, eight players have attempted a shot, with each one being turned away. The newest addition to the penalty shot parade was Evan Barlow, who was stopped in the second period on Nov. 8 by Quinnipiac goaltender Nick Pisellini. Since the start of 2006-07 season, Cornell has had four penalty shot attempts, with Mitch Carefoot, Tony Romano, Blake Gallagher and Barlow each coming up short. A total of 705 games have passed since Nieuwendyk converted his penalty shot.

ON THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM
Evan Barlow's penalty shot carried with it extra irony, given that in last year's second league game against Quinnipiac at Lynah Rink, it was Barlow who tripped up the Bobcats' Mike Atkinson, giving Atkinson a penalty shot in the second period. The Bobcats converted on their attempt against Ben Scrivens to tie the score at three, but Cornell would respond with a pair of third-period goals to take a 5-3 victory.

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
Freshman Jordan Kary made his Cornell debut in the tie against Colgate on Nov. 15 after sitting out the first three regular season games and the two exhibition contests. Kary was not cleared to play until just before the Colgate series as the result of a paperwork mixup with the NCAA that has since been resolved. In his first contest since playing in junior hockey last season with the Spruce Grove Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Kary had a clean scoreline with no points, shots or penalties.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING THROUGH THE QUAD!
Junior goaltender Ben Scrivens had his school-record shutout streak snapped on Nov. 13 at Colgate after tallying 206:44 straight without allowing a goal. Colgate's Brian Day stopped that streak with his goal just 59 seconds into the third period in the Big Red's 4-1 win at Starr Rink. Scrivens' streak is now the longest in Cornell history, surpassing the 189:48 set by Brian Cropper during the 1969-70 season, though he fell short of the ECAC Hockey shutout streak of 217:06, held by Colgate netminder Mark Dekanich.

ONE GOAL + TWO GAMES = THREE POINTS
The rarest of statistical oddities occurred for the Big Red on its season-opening weekend, as it picked up a win over Princeton and a tie at Quinnipiac. Despite scoring just one goal, the Big Red miraculously came away with three valuable points in the league standings. The last time the Big Red went on the road and scored just one goal in two games was at Michigan State on Nov. 12-14, 2004, tying the Spartans, 1-1, on Nov. 12, and falling, 2-0, two days later. The last one-goal road performance for the Big Red in league play came at Princeton and Yale on Feb. 9-10, 2001, as Cornell fell, 4-1, at Princeton and 1-0 at Yale the following night.

ALL YOU NEED IS ONE
Cornell's 1-0 victory at Princeton on Nov. 7 not only was the Big Red's first win of the season, it also marked the first time since the 2004-05 season that Cornell went on the road and came away with a 1-0 victory. That year, the Big Red downed Colgate, 1-0, on Feb. 4, 2005, at Starr Rink, behind a goal by Mike Iggulden at the 18:27 mark of the third period.


NO SOUP FOR YOU!
When Ben Scrivens turned away all 43 shots he faced on Nov. 7 at Princeton, it marked the first time since the 1990-91 season that the Big Red opened the season with a shutout. On Nov. 9, 1990, goaltender Jim Crozier turned away 20 shots on his way to a 5-0 shutout victory. In all, Cornell has only posted seven season-opening shutouts in the modern era (1957-present), with four of those coming prior to 1970.

PITCHING SHUTOUTS
Even more impressive than Ben Scrivens posting a shutout in the season opener was the fact that never before in Cornell history had a Big Red goaltender posted back-to-back shutouts to open the season. In the six previous times the Big Red opened the year with a shutout, Cornell went 4-2 in the next contest, twice allowing one goal, twice allowing three goals and allowing four and eight goals once each.

THE NATION'S BEST
Not only did Ben Scrivens earn ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week honors on Nov. 10 after opening the year with back-to-back shutouts against Princeton and Quinnipiac, but he was also named the Inside College Hockey National Player of the Week on Nov. 11. He becomes just the second Cornell player to ever earn the honor, joining Michael Kennedy, who was named to the list on Jan. 8, 2008, after scoring six points in a weekend sweep over Niagara at Lynah Rink.

ROAD WORK
Cornell's three-game road trip to open the season is such a rare occurrence that Cornell head coach Mike Schafer was not even alive the last time the Big Red opened the year with three games away from Lynah Rink. The 1959-60 team that finished 2-19 under head coach Paul Patten opened its season with four straight road games, followed by a pair of neutral site games and another three road contests before finally playing its first game at home on Jan. 16 against Yale. All of this occurred nearly three years before the 46-year-old Schafer was born.

ECAC HOCKEY AND SEASON OPENERS
The Nov. 7 contest against Princeton was not only the season opener, but also the first league game of the season. The last time the Big Red jumped directly into league play without any nonconference contests came in 1999-2000, when the Big Red opened with a 5-4 overtime loss at Rensselaer. Under the direction of Mike Schafer, Cornell has opened its season with a conference game just twice, with the first time coming in his second season behind the bench, a 5-4 victory at Brown.

MORE ON THE SEASON OPENER
While Cornell opening its year against a league foe is an uncommon occurence under Mike Schafer, the Big Red has had success in its first games of the year under the 14th-year mentor. In the 14 seasons under Schafer's direction, the Big Red is 9-4-1 in season openers.

...AND OPENING ON THE ROAD
The Big Red opened the 2008-09 season on the road for the second straight season and fifth time under the direction of head coach Mike Schafer. Last season, Cornell opened at Rochester Institute of Technology at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester and fell by a 4-1 margin. The last time Cornell opened back-to-back seasons on the road came in Schafer's first two years, opening at Michigan State in 1995-96 and at Brown in 1996-97.


STARTING OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT
With Cornell's win at Princeton on Nov. 7, the Big Red avoided starting the season with a loss for the second year in a row, another uncommon occurrence for the Big Red under Mike Schafer. In the modern era of Cornell hockey, from the opening of Lynah Rink in 1957 to the present day, the Big Red has only once dropped back-to-back season openers, that coming in the 1999-2000 and 2000-01 seasons, falling to Rensselaer by a 5-4 score on Nov. 5, 1999, and dropping a 5-3 contest to Sacred Heart on Nov. 4, 2000.

THOSE MASKED MEN
Cornell has the benefit of having four capable collegiate goaltenders on the roster in 2008-09, two of whom have been the team's top goaltender at one point or another. Senior Troy Davenport was the starter in 2006-07, appearing in 24 games and posting a 2.41 goals-against average and an .899 save percentage. Last season, current junior Ben Scrivens grabbed the top job, appearing in 35 contests and posting a 2.02 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. Joining the two are senior Dan DiLeo, who saw his first collegiate action in the ECAC Hockey consolation game win over Colgate last season, and freshman Mike Garman, who backstopped the Nanaimo Clippers to the British Columbia Hockey League regular season title last year.

TRANSFER TICKET
For the fourth straight season, the Cornell men's hockey roster includes a player who began his career at another school, as Derek Punches joins the Big Red after playing his first three seasons at Wayne State. Punches served as an assistant captain last year for the Warriors and finished second on the team with 10 goals and was fifth overall with 19 points. Punches was a two-time College Hockey America All-Academic Team selection while at Wayne State. For the past three seasons, the transfer role was filled by Chris Fontas, who sat out one year and played in 2006-07 and 2007-08 after tranferring from Massachusetts-Lowell.

FOR AND AGAINST
Derek Punches holds the distinction of being the most recent player to have played both for and against the Big Red. Punches played two games at Cornell as a sophomore at Wayne State, helping the Warriors to a split at Lynah Rink on Nov. 25-26, 2006. In the two games against the Big Red, Punches recorded a pair of shots and had an even plus-minus rating. The last time Cornell had players who played for the Big Red after playing against them came in 1978-79 when Doug Berk, Geoff Roeszler, Steve Shandley, Tim Strawman and Tom Whitehead each transfered to Cornell after beginning their careers at Penn. Much like Punches' situation with Wayne State, Penn dropped its program following the 1977-78 season.

I FEEL A DRAFT
For the second straight season, Cornell has four players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft. Juniors Colin Greening and Justin Krueger, sophomore Riley Nash and freshman Sean Collins have each been selected by NHL clubs.

CUSHING CONNECTION
While the New England prep schools typically send their top prospects on to collegiate careers at Boston area schools, freshman Sean Whitney has become the fourth product of Cushing Academy to play for the Big Red. He joins Chris Fontas, who played for Cornell from 2006-07 through 2007-08, and Ryan Moynihan, who played on East Hill from 1996-2000, as Cushing alumni to suit up in the Red and White. That trio all follow after Anthony Steere, who played for Cornell in 1962-63.

WHAT'S IN A NUMBER?
Freshman Sean Whitney will be wearing jersey number 19 this season, a number that has several interesting connections for the Scituate, Mass., native. His older brother, Ryan, plays for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League, and he sports the same number 19 on his uniform. Additionally, the last Cushing Academy alumnus to play hockey at Cornell, Chris Fontas, closed out his career by wearing number 19. Like Fontas, Whitney is an alumnus of Cushing Academy.

WICKED SMART KIDS
Eight players from last season's team were named to the ECAC Hockey All-Academic team for their achievements in the classroom last year. Five of those players return this season, as seniors Troy Davenport and Dan DiLeo, juniors Colin Greening and Justin Krueger and sophomore Patrick Kennedy each were named to the team. Additionally, graduated seniors Chris Fontas, Doug Krantz and Topher Scott were also selected as All-Academic Team members.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Cornell head coach Mike Schafer is quickly moving up the ranks of the coaching fraternity in his win totals. In his 14th season, Schafer has 275 career victories, with the Jan. 17 win over Rensselaer moving him ahead of Dartmouth's Bob Gaudet for third place among active coaches in ECAC Hockey. Schafer currently trails Quinnipiac's Rand Pecknold by just five. St. Lawrence's Joe Marsh, the dean of coaches in ECAC Hockey, has 436 career wins to his credit in his 24th season.

REMEMBERING NED HARKNESS
Legendary coach Ned Harkness, who guided the Big Red to its two national championships in 1967 and 1970, passed away on Sept. 19, his 89th birthday. Harkness led Cornell to the only undefeated, untied NCAA championship season in 1970, going 29-0-0. His legendary career also included stops at Rensselaer, where he guided the Engineers to the 1954 NCAA championship, and Union, along with the Detroit Red Wings of the National Hockey League. Harkness also coached the Big Red lacrosse team for three seasons, guiding that squad to a 35-1 mark during his tenure. This season, the Cornell men's hockey and men's lacrosse teams will both be wearing a sticker bearing the initials “NH” on their helmets in memory of Ned Harkness.

ONE LONG SEASON
The 2007-08 season for the Big Red has found its own space in the record books, as the 19-14-3 campaign tied the 2002-03 season for the most games in a single season with 36. That season marked the last time that the Big Red advanced to the NCAA Frozen Four, where it fell to New Hampshire in the national semifinals.

HATS OFF
Colin Greening recorded the Big Red's first hat trick in 101 games when he tallied three goals on Feb. 29, 2008, against Dartmouth. The junior co-captain became the first player since Matt Moulson recorded the feat against Union on Feb. 19, 2005.

THE BACKUP OF THE BACKUP'S BACKUP
For the first time under head coach Mike Schafer, and the first time since the 1990-91 season, four netminders are on the roster for the Big Red. Seniors Troy Davenport and Dan DiLeo, junior Ben Scrivens and freshman Mike Garman make the first quartet of goaltenders for Cornell since the foursome of Parris Duffus, Corrie D'Alessio, Jim Crozier and Steve Coultes graced the roster in Brian McCutcheon's fourth season behind the bench. That season, D'Alessio and Crozier were both seniors, with Coultes a sophomore and Duffus a freshman. Cornell has also had four goaltenders on the roster in 1986-87, 1983-84, 1982-83, 1976-77 and 1958-59.

BACK BEHIND THE BENCH
Casey Jones returns to his alma mater as an associate head coach for 2008-09 after spending the last 13 years in the same role with Ohio State. Jones, a Big Red captain in 1989-90 under head coach Brian McCutcheon, fills the spot on the coaching staff that was created when assistant coach Brent Brekke departed for Miami (Ohio).

BROTHERLY LOVE
The 2008-09 edition of the Big Red continues a theme started a year ago, as the three sets of brothers on the Cornell roster all return intact for a second season. Michael and Patrick Kennedy, Brendon and Riley Nash, and twins Joe and Mike Devin will again make life difficult on visiting radio and TV announcers.

IT'S A FAMILY AFFAIR
One might think that Chuck and Donna Devin, parents of sophomores Mike and Joe Devin, would have an easy life, given that the brothers are attending the same school, making it easy to follow their season. That's not the case, though, as the brothers' younger sister, Molly Kate, is a freshman on the Union College women's hockey team. The Devin hockey family follows a year after Cornell had a pair of sisters - Rebecca and Sarah Johnston - with their brother, Jacob, on the men's team.

CLIPPER SHIP
Cornell typically has had success recruiting players from the British Columbia Hockey League in general and from the Nanaimo Clippers in particular, and the 2008-09 season is no exception. Six members of this year's team played their junior hockey for the BCHL powerhouse club, with freshman goaltender Mike Garman adding to the long line of Nanaimo alumni who have gone on to play for the Big Red. Of those six players, three - Colin Greening, Tyler Mugford and Jared Seminoff - will serve as either a co-captain or an alternate captain this season for the Big Red.

250 AND COUNTING
Cornell coach Mike Schafer picked up his 250th career coaching victory with the Big Red's 3-2 win in game one of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series against Dartmouth. Schafer's .640 winning percentage entering the 2008-09 season is also good for eighth among active Division I head coaches.

IN THE AIR TONIGHT
All of Cornell's games this season can be heard in the Ithaca area on WHCU 870 AM. Jason Weinstein returns for his fifth season of calling Big Red hockey action.

ON THE TUBE
Eight of Cornell's regular season games were on television this season, beginning with the Nov. 7 season opener at Princeton. Even better for Big Red fans, seven of those contests were road games, making it easier to track the team while away from Lynah Rink. Two of those games - the Nov. 27 game at North Dakota and the Jan. 16 game at Union - were also simulcast across the U.S. on the NHL Network, with another two available on national TV, including the Nov. 7 game at Princeton, shown on ESPNU, and the Feb. 14 game at Harvard, seen on CBS College Sports. Last season, Cornell had eight games on television, and the Big Red went 4-4 in those contests.

REDCAST
Live streaming video of most of Cornell's home hockey games is available through Cornell REDCast. In addition to streaming video of home games, fans can also get live audio of all of Cornell's road games, including all postseason contests. REDCast is a subscription-based joint venture of Cornell athletics and Internet Consulting Services (ICS). Numerous subscription options, including yearly, monthly, sport-by-sport and pay-per-view passes, provide viewing and listening flexibility without the worry of automatic renewal. REDCasts are available on all computer operating systems.

UP NEXT
Saturday's winner advances to the Midwest Regional Final on Sunday against the winner of the other semifinal between top-seeded Notre Dame and fourth-seeded Bemidji State. The championship game will be at 8 p.m. on Sunday and can be seen on ESPNU.