Post-Game Recap 2/4/12

Union and Cornell Tie 4-4

As it has become tradition, I consulted Phil Cohn (correction, team video coordinator) for the Cornell scouting report going into the game yesterday. Cornell's goalie, Andy Iles, has played every minute of every game, only leaving in favor of an empty net. Iles leads the ECAC in time played. On our end, Kelly Zajac was one assist away from the Union D-1 all time assist record. But, enough with individuals. This game was particularly important given the standings. There was a little less pressure on the Dutch after Cornell's tie last night but winning against Cornell would mean Union would pull away from the pack (5 points ahead of #2 Cornell). Between Zajac's record and the standings, this game had a lot riding on it.

First Period

Like last night, Union had a bit of slow start. A burst of physical play by Cornell lead to a 2-1 which Stevens could not stop. Like Friday, Union started the game down 1-0. The game went on with chippy, back and forth play. As Union starting to get there feet moving, Cornell got called for tripping at 11:06. With several opportunities, Cornell's goalie, Iles, came up big, keeping Union off the board until none other than Kelly Zajac feeded Wayne Simpson with a beautiful pass to the low slot. Simpson took a quick one timer and with that, Zajac became Union's all time assist leader and thus, tied it all up 1-1 (secondary assist to Kyle Bodie). Not long after that, Union was put on another power play after a hooking call. Zajac, clearly not feeling content with just being 1 assist above the record, drew the goalie out of position and fed Kyle Bodie the gift wrapped present of an empty net. 2-1 Union. After those two goals, Union continued to control play but were unable to get another past Iles. Union led shots 12-7.

Second Period

The first 6 minutes of this period was solid back and forth hockey with chances at each end. The back and forth paid off for Cornell when a backhand shot from around the faceoff dot sailed over Stevens' shoulder to even it up. Zajac almost scored a rebuttal on a delayed penalty. Unfortunately when Cornell gained possession and our powerplay began, a soft elbowing call on Kyle Bodie evened the teams up at 4. Neither team was able to capitalize during their short power play time. On Cornell's first shot after scoring, a point shot ricocheted to a Cornell forward's stick who buried the shot while Stevens was out of position. The following shot on Stevens also went in after he was screened. 3 goals on 3 shots. Cornell up 4-2. Union, showing signs of fight, came back with a goal from Gostisbehere, who's shot from the left point beat a screened Iles. 4-3 Cornell.

Third Period

Back and forth play, with chances each way resulted in near misses for each team. Cornell overtook Union in SOG in the third. The officiating, which had been questionable for most of the game, came to a boiling point for the fans by the 13 minute mark where countless icings were waved off and several offsides were called as Union was attempting to enter the zone. Whether this was a result of frustrated play by Union or blown calls is up for debate. In my opinion, it was this inconsistency in calls that resulted in a hurt Cornell player, as a waved off icing drove Welsh and a Cornell player to come rushing to a puck in the corner after gaining a lot of speed, resulting in a clean but awkward collision. With 3 minutes to go, Hatch capitalized on a defensive lapse but was stopped by Iles. By this point, the stadium was buzzing. At around the 18 minute mark, Gostisbehere entered the offensive zone, got the puck to Wayne Simpson, who drew Iles out of position, passed the puck to Zajac, who emphatically shot the puck in the empty net. 4-4 and the stadium goes wiiilllddd. Cornell almost spoiled our fun after a shot just inside the blue awkwardly hit Stevens and just floated over the crossbar. And we're headed to overtime.

Overtime (Italics for tension)

Union had control early in the period but, alas, 5 minutes was not enough to decide the game. Zajac had a shot go wide and Coburn cleaned up a big rebound off Stevens who was out of postion but there weren't too many opportunities for either team. The game ending in a 4-4 tie that felt almost like a win.

Union and Cornell tie 4-4

Notes

For what it's worth, when the game ended, I was not upset with a tie. Coming out with a point after that second and third period felt like a small victory. Personally, I was happy that we were able to tie it up since Cornell ALSO tied RPI on Friday after a blown lead. Someone should tell those guys to play hockey better.

-Kelly Zajac: The now Union leader in all time assists had an awesome 3 point night. Definitely the first star. The kids behind me would not stop talking about "his older brother on the Devils." Freshman.

-Shayne Gostisbehere (Ghostbuster): Jeez louise, this guy did NOT play like a freshman. Talk about a defenseman with a ton of offensive upsides. Ghostbuster did a great job of setting up plays by gaining the offensive zone and allowing the team to set up their system. My only caveat is that he did lose the puck in the defensive zone after a failed dangle. I'm really excited to see him next year.

-Daniel Carr and Josh Jooris: These guys never give up. They skate hard and can easily create momentum for this team, especially when we're down goals.

-Jeremy Welsh: He threw around the body, gained the offensive zone, got shots on goal, and won faceoffs. That's what you need out of a center. He also got some silky smooth dangles in there. Good work, buddy.

-Early on, Welsh threw a hip check that just barely connected but still send the Cornell player flying. Later on, Bodie showed the crowd what a textbook open ice hip check looked like. Let's see if Welsh took notes. If you're looking to see what the new bread of defensemen in the NHL look like, look no further than Mat Bodie.

-The third period was delayed a few minutes due to an ice malfunction. Eventually, they brought out a fire extinguisher and got it all sorted out.

The Crowd

This was one of the loudest games I've ever been at. The Cornell Big Red (dumb name), brought out their candy-cane pep band. We started out with a "we found waldo" (see picture) chant before the game started. Their tradition for the star spangled banner is to yell "and the rocket's RED glare" to which we responded with a well timed "sucks". Perfect. Some other good chrips included yelling "NERDS" whenever the Cornell Red entered the zone next to the student section and standard goalie harassment.