ITHACA, N.Y. — The men's hockey team has announced that senior forward
Alex Rauter and junior forward
Mitch Vanderlaan will serve as co-captains for the upcoming season, with senior forwards
Jared Fiegl and
Trevor Yates serving as the alternates.
Rauter proved to be one of the most versatile pieces for the resurgent Big Red last year, wearing several metaphorical hats. One of the team's best penalty-killing forwards throughout the season, Rauter also broke out offensively with 17 points on eight goals and nine assists — perhaps no goal more memorable than a third-period strike on a penalty shot against New Hampshire in The Frozen Apple at Madison Square Garden in New York.
After a rash of injuries then struck Cornell on the blue line down the stretch, Rauter made the transition to play defense for the better part of the season's balance. He did more than hold his own over that period of 12 games, registering a plus-5 rating with five assists. He made such an impression as a defenseman, the NHL's San Jose Sharks invited Rauter to its prospect camp over the summer as a blueliner.
Vanderlaan will also don the 'C' after leading the squad in scoring with 28 points on a team-high 15 goals and 13 assists. He played in all of the team's 35 games and had eight goals in the 10 games in Ivy play, which was tied for the circuit lead and earned him All-Ivy League second team honors. After the season, Vanderlaan was presented the team's Bill Doran Sportsmanship Award and an award to commemorate his scoring of the team's only short-handed goal on the year.
Vanderlaan becomes the first junior to serve a Cornell captain since John McCarron '15 did so in the 2013-14 campaign. This also marks the Big Red's first season with co-captains since 2010-11, though it had tri-captains in 2012-13 and an entire senior class of four captains in 2015-16.
After making the program's 20th all-time trip to the NCAA tournament last year, the Big Red continues preparation for the new season with a pair of exhibition games against Canadian universities Guelph (7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 14) and Ottawa (5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 15). The annual Red/White Game follows on Oct. 21 before the team's regular-season openers against Alabama-Huntsville on Friday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Oct. 28 at Lynah Rink.
