Front Row: Vincenzo Marozzi, Omar Kanji, Sean Whitney, Head Coach Mike Schafer, Keir Ross, Assistant Coach Topher Scott, Sean Collins, Assistant Coach Ben Syer, Locke Jillson, Volunteer Assistant Coach Kris Mayotte, Andy Iles.
Second Row: Academic Adviser Dr. Jim Maas, Athletic Trainer Ed Kelly, Greg Miller, Philippe Hudon, Mathieu Brisson, Erik Axell, Armand de Swardt, Rodger Craig, Braden Birch, John McCarron, Joel Lowry, Brian Ferlin, Nick D’Agostino, Jacob MacDonald, Manager Sean Schmidt.
Third Row: Cole Bardreau, Kevin Cole, Joakim Ryan, Madison Dias, Dustin Mowrey, John Esposito, Kirill Gotovets, Vince Mihalek.
The 2011-12 Big Red
One thing you can say about the 2011-12 Cornell men’s hockey team: It continually bounced back when faced with adversity. This characteristic enabled the Big Red squad, with nine freshmen who earned considerable icetime, to enjoy another very successful season that included a 19-9-7 record, an Ivy League championship, a second-place finish in the ECAC regular season, and a victory over second-ranked University of Michigan in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Coach Mike Schafer’s (’86) team never backed down from a challenge, as shown throughout its four rounds of postseason play.
In its opening game of the ECAC tournament at Lynah Rank, an inspired Dartmouth team rallied to tie the score in the third period to force overtime. Cornell matched the intensity of the visitors through nearly two full overtime sessions, winning the game 4-3 when senior defenseman Sean Whitney fired a shot over the shoulder of the Big Green goaltender. Whitney’s heroics might not have ever happened if it wasn’t for the outstanding goaltending of Andy Iles, who made a career-high 46 saves for the night.
The Friday night contest was the longest game (97:40) in Lynah Rink’s storied history (though the record was broken the next day when the women’s team defeated Boston University in a 119-minute, 50-second game in the NCAA quarterfinals).
Buoyed by Whitney’s spectacular efforts, the men came out flying the second night vs. Dartmouth with three goals in the first half of the opening period and hung on for a 3-1 triumph to earn its second consecutive trip to Atlantic City.
After its quest for an ECAC championship ended with a 6-1 loss to Harvard in the semifinals—and with an NCAA tournament bid at stake—Cornell responded with a 3-0 triumph over Colgate, as sophomore goaltender Iles recorded his sixth shutout of the season. Schafer said, “You have to give the kids a lot of credit, and I was so proud of the way they played with so much passion and pride with the NCAA berth on the line.”
Cornell received an invitation to play in Green Bay at the Midwest Regional of the NCAA championships against the region’s top seed, the University of Michigan. The Wolverines were aggressive scoring a goal 1:11 into the game and had another apparent goal wiped off the board due to goalie interference less than a minute later. Coach Schafer’s time out—which he thought necessary for the referees to review the video of the goal—changed the course of the game.
After surviving the early barrage, Cornell settled down to implement the game plan. Freshman forward John McCarron, a Michigan native, countered to tie the game late in the first period. Just 40 seconds into the second stanza with the Red killing off a penalty, Joakim Ryan set a school and freshman defenseman record with his seventh goal of the season, to give Cornell a 2-1 lead.The Wolverines tied the score with four minutes to play, and Cornell held off a flurry by Michigan during the remainder of the period to head to overtime. The Big Red waited for its opportunity to end the game, upsetting the Wolverines 3-2.
The winning goal came 3:35 into the extra session. Ryan started the play with a great
pass to Mowry. Mowry sent the puck to junior center Greg Miller who fired on goal. The rebound came out to sophomore Rodger Craig who was charging the net, and the 6-5 forward shot the puck into the open net, sparking a gigantic celebration on the ice and in the stands.
The next evening, Cornell squared off against Ferris State in the Midwest Regional finals with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line. As expected, it was a very tight game played by two teams with highly rated defenses and goaltenders. After two scoreless periods, the Bulldogs tallied a power-play goal 11 seconds into the final stanza. Again, Cornell bounced back. A little over a minute later sophomore forward Dustin Mowry tied the game with a backhand shot. Ferris State scored the game-winner with 13:06 left in the contest. “We had our chances,” said Schafer, “but didn’t capitalize, especially when we had a five-minute power play in the third.”
Iles earned All-Ivy first team and All-ECAC second team honors. Freshman forward Brian Ferlin, who didn’t see action in any playoff games because of a hand injury, was named the Ivy League and ECAC Rookie of the Year. Junior defenseman Nick D’Agostino was also named both second team All-ECAC and All-Ivy, while Ferlin and Miller were All-Ivy second-team selections.
Schafer’s season-ending thoughts were his appreciation for the way this year’s team handled itself in all situations. He said, “When we had dinner at Brett Favre’s restaurant in Green Bay, the waitress told our staff that they serve tons of teams, but none compared to the courtesy shown by our young men. We are all proud of how this team represents the university and our hockey program.
