LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — The Cornell men's hockey team embarks on its 10th trip in the last 14 years to the ECAC Hockey Championship weekend, where it will take on Princeton at 4:05 p.m. Friday at 1980 Herb Brooks Arena. The game will be broadcast live on Eleven Sports Network, with Perry Laskaris providing play-by-play and color commentary from Dan Fridgen. The web stream of the broadcast will also be available to viewers from the U.S. for free through Eleven Prime, a digital channel powered by Twitch. Additionally, Jason Weinstein will provide play-by-play with color commentary from Tony Eisenhut '88 for WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM) in the Ithaca area and worldwide via the station's website here.

ECAC HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS
Semifinal #1
TIME: 4:05 p.m.
DATE: Friday, March 16, 2018
PLACE: 1980 Herb Brooks Arena  •  Lake Placid, N.Y.
RECORDS: Cornell 25-4-2, 17-3-2 ECAC Hockey;
                    Princeton 17-12-4, 10-10-2 ECAC Hockey
TV: Eleven Sports Network
VIDEO (U.S. only): Eleven Prime
VIDEO (outside the U.S.): BoxCast
RADIO: WHCU (870 AM, 95.9 FM)
LIVE STATS: ECACHockey.com

Cornell game notes (PDF)
Princeton game notes (PDF)

Big Red Rewind:
•  Cornell advanced to the league's showcase event by sweeping Quinnipiac in a quarterfinal series with victories of 9-1 last Friday and 2-0 last Saturday.
•  Alex Rauter, Beau Starrett and Mitch Vanderlaan each scored twice Friday, when the Big Red needed just 36 minutes to post its highest goal total since Nov. 20, 1999. Yanni Kaldis and Brenden Locke had four assists apiece.
•  Scoring chances were at much more of a premium in Saturday's rematch, and the Big Red blocked 23 shots while Matthew Galajda made 22 saves for his ninth shutout of the season.
•  Rauter opened the scoring in the second period, then Mitch Vanderlaan's goal in the third provided valuable insurance. Kyle Betts had the primary assist on both goals.
•  The final goal was bookended by major penalties for the Big Red, which killed off both over a total of 5:21 of five-on-four and 3:10 of six-on-four.
•  It was the fifth time Cornell and Quinnipiac met in the ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, with the Big Red recording its first-ever sweep of the Bobcats.

In A Nutshell:
•  Cornell won sole possession of the program's ninth Cleary Cup — awarded annually to ECAC Hockey's regular-season champion. It's the Big Red's first Cleary Cup since 2004-05.
•  As it has since Dec. 9, Cornell leads the nation in winning percentage (.839). 
•  Cornell posted its best regular-season mark since it went 24-4-1 during the 2002-03 season before a postseason run into the Frozen Four.
•  While Cornell is on pace to have its highest goal total for a season (3.23 per game) since the 2009-10 campaign, it is also once again the program's vaunted defense in the spotlight this year. 
•  The Big Red continues to lead the nation in team defense at 1.45 goals against per game, which would rank as the fourth-stingiest Division I season on record. The numbers have actually been even been better since Jan. 1, with Cornell yielding 1.17 goals per games over the last 18 games.
•  Cornell remains at second in both the USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls for a fourth straight week. The Big Red remains the highest-ranked team in ECAC Hockey and is in the national top five in both polls for a 12th consecutive week.

Awards Season:
•  Freshman goaltender Matthew Galajda is the only freshman among the 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Memorial Award, and he is one of the semifinalists for the 2018 Mike Richter Award. Earlier this month, the native of Aurora, Ontario was named Ivy League Player of the Year and the Rookie of the Year while also being unanimously selected as the lone goalie on the All-Ivy League first team. He is also the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Year and Goaltender of the Year, as well as the first freshman All-ECAC Hockey first-team goalie since 1991-92 (Christian Soucy, Vermont).
•  Mike Schafer has been named the ECAC Hockey Tim Taylor Coach of the Year for the fourth time in his career. He was also named the Ivy League Coach of the Year for the first time since the circuit added the honor in 2015.
•  Sophomore defenseman Yanni Kaldis earned a spot on the All-Ivy first team for a second straight year, and is also an All-ECAC Hockey third-teamer.
•  Junior forward Anthony Angello is on the second team for both All-Ivy League and All-ECAC Hockey.
•  Junior defenseman Alec McCrea is on the All-Ivy League second team and was named the ECAC Hockey Best Defensive Defenseman. Junior forward 
•  Junior forward Mitch Vanderlaan received All-Ivy honorable mention.

Need-To-Know Numbers:
•  Cornell has been particularly dominant at even strength, leading the nation with a team rating of plus-52. The Big Red has surrendered just a paltry 26 even-strength goals so far. For perspective, the next two lowest totals in the nation are Clarkson at 46 and Northeastern at 54.
•  Cornell has four players in the top 10 nationally in rating, all juniors. Alec McCrea leads the nation with a plus-24, while Brendan Smith — typically paired with McCrea on defense — is tied for second at plus-23. Defenseman Matt Nuttle (plus-22; tied for fifth) and forward Anthony Angello (plus-20; tied for 10th) are close behind.

Forward Thinking:
•  The key to Cornell's attack this season has been depth. To wit, six of the 12 players who had multiple points in February have 10 or fewer points for the entire season.
•  Junior forward Anthony Angello (13-13–26) was the nation's leading goal-scorer in January with nine. The ECAC Hockey Player of the Month for January has 17 points in the 17 games since Jan. 1.
•  Senior forward Trevor Yates (11-13–24; 4 PPGs) ranks second in team scoring. He has five assists over the last six games.
•  Junior Mitch Vanderlaan (6-13–19) celebrated his return to the lineup last night with two second-period goals to give him 12 points over his last 11 games. He missed the final six games of the regular season due to injury.

The Goaltending Factory Continues:
•  Freshman Matthew Galajda (21-3-2, 1.43, .943, 9 SO) has taken the college hockey world by storm, leading the nation in goals against average, shutouts and ranking third in save percentage. 
•  While his numbers for the season are spectacular, they're even better since he regained the starting job Jan. 6. Including that night's 1-0 blanking of Quinnipiac, Galajda is 13-1-2 with a 1.01 GAA and .961 save pct. in 2018.
•  Galajda is tied for second on the program's all-time list for shutouts in a single season, one behind David McKee's record of 10 from 2004-05.

More Than Just Defense:
•  One of the keys to Cornell's success this season has been an increase in offensive production from its defensemen. After receiving 13 goals from blueliners in each of the last two seasons, the Big Red already has 21 goals from defensemen this year.
•  Sophomore Yanni Kaldis (4-15–19) has eight points over the last five games, taking over the team lead in points by defensemen. Kaldis is also tied for the team lead with eight power-play points.
•  Junior defensemen Matt Nuttle (2-10–12) has already more than doubled his point total from his first two collegiate seasons. 
•  Often paired together, Alec McCrea (5-7–12; 5 PPGs) and Brendan Smith (5-5–10) are among the nation's leaders in rating with a combined plus-47.
•  Three of Cornell's top seven defensemen are freshmen. Alex Green (2-8–10) has logged top-four minutes all year, and Cody Haiskanen (2-1–3) and Matt Cairns (1-0–1) both scored their first collegiate goals in the final weekend of the regular season.

Fresh Faces:
•  The Big Red is the youngest team in ECAC Hockey and boasts one of the largest freshman classes in the country, with seven of the team's 10 newcomers appearing in the season opener — a first at Cornell since 1997.
•  Freshman forward Morgan Barron (5-12–17) became the first freshman in program history to record a point in each of his first seven collegiate games.
•  After doling out four assists last Friday, forward Brenden Locke (2-15–17) has moved into a tie with Barron for the team's freshman scoring lead and the team's overall assist lead. His plus-17 rating is also tied for third in the nation among first-year players.
•  Forward Tristan Mullin (4-2–6) has five points over the last five games, including the winning goal inside the final two minutes of the Feb. 17 game vs. Yale. His first goal of the season was also a game-winner, when Cornell beat Boston University at Madison Square Garden in New York.
•  Forward Kyle Betts (5-7–12) is tied with Barron for the team's goal-scoring lead among freshmen, netting the final goal Jan. 20 at Colgate. He also won a team-best 63.1 percent of his faceoffs in February.

Eye On The Ivy:
•  Cornell won 22nd Ivy League championship in program history, clinching on Jan. 27 with a 3-1 win at Dartmouth. It's the 18th outright title for the Big Red, and the third its won in the last eight years. 
•  A Feb. 16-17 home sweep of Brown and Yale gave the Big Red a 9-0-1 record in Ivy League play, marking the first time Cornell went undefeated through the Ancient Eight since 1995-96 — Mike Schafer's first season as head coach.

Feel The Draft?:
•  Cornell has six players on the roster who have been selected in the NHL Entry Draft, including four from 2014. Junior forward Beau Starrett (Chicago Blackhawks) was selected earliest in that group, having been taken in the third round with the 88th overall pick. 
•  Classmate Anthony Angello, also a forward, was selected in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Penguins. Junior forwards Jared Fiegl (Arizona Coyotes) and Dwyer Tschantz (St. Louis Blues) were then picked in the seventh round. 
•  Two newcomers are also NHL draft picks — forward Morgan Barron (N.Y. Rangers in 2017) and defenseman Matt Cairns (Edmonton Oilers in 2016).

What, Me Worry?:
•  Cornell has trailed in just nine of its 31 games to date, including deficits of at least two goals in six of those contests. Remarkably, the Big Red has a 3-2-1 record in those games featuring a multiple-goal deficit.
•  The Big Red's resilience from an early deficit has become somewhat of a trend, with the team sporting a very respectable 16-16-7 record when yielding the game's first strike over the last three seasons. That's a stark turnaround from the team's 14-34-5 record when yielding the game's first goal from the previous three seasons (2012-15).

First Ivy League Coach To 400:
•  Already the winningest coach in program history and in Ivy League history, Mike Schafer ranks sixth among active coaches with 435 victories at the Division I level. He ranks second among current coaches at Cornell, behind just Dave Eldredge (men's and women's polo).

Scouting Princeton:
•  After the Big Red saw them last, the Tigers have posted an 11-4-1 record — most recently recording a two-game sweep of Union on the road in the quarterfinals last weekend. Seventh-seeded Princeton (17-12-4, 10-10-2 ECAC Hockey) won the first game, 5-3, then capped it off with David Hallisey's winning goal with 9.5 seconds left in a 3-2 victory in Saturday's Game 2.
•  The Tigers brandish the nation's most efficient power play and two of the nation's top five point-scorers. Junior right wing and All-ECAC Hockey first-team selection Max Véronneau (16-37–53; plus-22) leads the team in scoring, and linemate Ryan Kuffner (29-21–50; 8 PPGs; plus-23) is just one off the nation's goal-scoring lead. They typically play on a line centered by junior Alex Riche (6-18–24). That trio combines for a plus-57 rating, while the Tigers' other forwards are a combined minus-43.
•  Senior forward David Hallisey (17-19–36; 8 PPGs) is tied with Kuffner for the team lead in power-play goals — three of which have come against Cornell.
•  Junior Josh Teves (6-25–31) is the team's leading scorer among defensemen. He was named to the All-ECAC Hockey third team.
•  Freshman Ryan Ferland (16-10-4, 3.01, .911, 2 SO), who catches with his right hand, has started 32 of the team's 33 games in goal. He is often under fire, with Princeton surrendering an average of 33.45 shots on goal per game.
•  Ron Fogarty is in his fourth season as the head coach at Princeton.

The Series Against Princeton:
•  Cornell has been dominant against the Tigers, holding a 92-51-8 lead all-time with wins in each of the teams' last seven meetings. 
•  In the season's first meeting, the Big Red rallied for a 5-4 victory on Nov. 4 at Hobey Baker Rink. Cornell trailed 4-2 before second-period goals by Yanni Kaldis and Trevor Yates knotted the score, setting the stage for Brenden Locke's unassisted game-winner with 6:41 to play in the third. It was Locke's first collegiate goal.
•  The Big Red scored four second-period goals en route to a 7-1 rout of the Tigers in the teams' last meeting on Jan. 5 at Lynah Rink. Anthony Angello scored twice, and linemate Brenden Locke had three assists. Mitch Vanderlaan and Jeff Malott each scored in the third period on goals assisted by Brendan Smith.

The Postseason History vs. Princeton:
•  The Big Red is 7-2-1 against the Tigers in postseason play, most recently sweeping Princeton in an ECAC Hockey Championship first-round series March 8-9, 2013 by scores of 4-0 and 4-2. 
•  The last time the teams met in the semifinals was memorable, with Colin Greening scoring midway through a second overtime to give Cornell a 4-3 win on March 20, 2009 in Albany. Evan Barlow scored a highlight-reel goal to tie the game late in the third period.
•  Both of the Tigers' victories in the teams' postseason series have come on their home rink.

The First Program to 100 ECAC Hockey Championship Wins:
•  The Big Red enters this weekend with 111 all-time ECAC Hockey Championship playoff victories, which leads the league. 
•  Cornell has won eight games in the first round, 61 in the quarterfinals, one in the preliminary round of championship weekend, 22 in the semifinals, seven consolation games and 12 championships. 
•  Of note: Preliminaries and consolation games are no longer part of the ECAC Hockey playoff format.

Up Next:
•  If Cornell defeats Princeton, it will play in the ECAC Hockey Championship game at 7:35 p.m. Saturday at 1980 Herb Brooks Arena against the winner of Friday's second semifinal between Clarkson and defending champion Harvard.
•  Regardless of its outcome in the ECAC Hockey playoffs, Cornell is aligned to receive one of the 16 berths for the NCAA tournament. The selection show will air at noon Sunday on ESPNU, with regional play March 23-25 at sites in Allentown, Pa.; Bridgeport, Conn.; Sioux Falls, S.D. and Worcester, Mass.