Box Score
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Highlights

NEW YORK — A desperate comeback attempt was not enough for the men's hockey team on Saturday night, as the Big Red came up on the short end of a 3-2 loss to Boston University in front of sellout crowd of 18,006 at Madison Square Garden in the fourth edition of Red Hot Hockey.

Despite outshooting BU by a whopping 39-11 margin, 14th-ranked Cornell (7-4-1) couldn't turn its physical dominance into a victory. The Big Red's power play entered the night as the second-most proficient in the nation, but it came up empty on seven opportunities. The Terriers were far more opportunistic, scoring the winner on one of their two man advantages to win for the third time in the Red Hot Hockey series. Sophomore Christian Hilbrich and junior Cole Bardreau scored third-period goals for the Big Red.

The star of the night was Boston University (7-6-1) goaltender Matt O'Connor, who made 37 saves on the receiving end of Cornell's highest shot output of the season. But despite the Big Red's territorial advantage, it was the Terriers who built a three-goal lead by the early stages of the third period. Mike Moran chipped in a perfect feed from Danny O'Regan with 2:10 to play in the first period after O'Regan got open with a Big Red defenseman falling down.

The second period featured more of the same, with O'Connor stopping junior Brian Ferlin on a breakaway at the 5:17 mark. The Big Red earned consecutive power plays and 31 seconds of a two-man advantage later in the frame, but O'Connor got his left toe to a Joakim Ryan shot through traffic and listened to Dustin Mowrey's shot ping off the post.

BU extended its lead to 2-0 at the 14:38 mark, with a hip check causing a turnover in the Terriers' zone and starting a rush the other way. Evan Rodrigues patiently maneuvered a pass to Robbie Baillargeon around a sprawling defender for another tap-in goal. BU then went up 3-0 on a power-play goal in the third minute of the third period. Matt Grzelcyk's shot from the point was steered away by a Big Red defenseman, but the puck went right to the tape of Kevin Duane. He alertly passed across to Nick Roberto, who converted from short range.
 
Entering the night on a four-game winning streak, the Big Red began to chip away at the Terriers' lead. After an impressive display of puck possession by Ferlin, he wrapped the puck toward the front of the net and watched it clank in off the skates of Hilbrich The goal went under review to determine if a kicking motion was used, but the goal stood.
 
Cornell then cut its deficit to one goal with 3:40 to play on Bardreau's fourth goal of the season. Joakim Ryan started the play with a pass to Joel Lowry in the neutral zone, then his pass up the left wall started a line rush. John McCarron carried the puck up the fall before sending a perfect pass onto the tape of Bardreau driving the net, and the game was on.
 
Plenty of chances followed for the Big Red after the Bardreau tally, including a power play opportunity and some time on a six-on-four advantage with time winding down. The last gasp came when Brian Ferlin's shot toward goal hit McCarron and dribbled wide of O'Connor as the final buzzer sounded. It was the first time in six games the Big Red didn't score a power-play goal.

Cornell wraps up the fall semester portion of its schedule at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, when it plays host to ECAC Hockey rival Colgate at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, N.Y.