Purple Eagles Come To Ithaca

It looks like Cornell's first regular season game this fall will be against the Niagara Purple Eagles, on Friday, October 30, at Lynah.

Cornell is 7-0-0 against Niagara since 2001, although I wouldn't consider this to be an easy game. Cornell usually plays Niagara in a mid-season series, after the Big Red have been able to work out some early-season issues and get into a groove of playing good hockey. This will be Cornell's first game, but it will be Niagara's fifth. The Purple Eagles will have already played Colgate, Clarkson, St. Lawrence, and Michigan. A good showing against Michigan will give them some confidence as they head to Ithaca. Cornell will still be experimenting with lines, and it will be the first NCAA game for our freshmen.

A game against Niagara doesn't do much for our strength of schedule, unless they end up winning the CHA tournament in March, which would make them a Team Under Consideration (TUC) for the NCAA tournament. But that's a long ways away.