Cornell squanders yet another opportunity to convince the country that it's going anywhere this season. Cornell falls to 2-3-2 against teams with a winning record, and the two wins are against essentially .500 teams Colgate and Rensselaer.
Watching the earlier semifinal, it was quite obvious that the refs down here were calling a lot of stuff which doesn't get called in the ECAC. I assumed that the Cornell coaches would have caught on to this as well, since they were observing the game from the section next to me. Not the case apparently. Cornell goes to the box ELEVEN times tonight, including in the first minute of each of the first, second, and third periods. Senior defenseman Brendon Nash leads the way with a penalty 44 seconds into the game. First round NHL draft pick Riley Nash has two minors, including one at the end of the game with the goalie pulled. Cornell surrenders goals on a 5x3, 5x4, and 4x4. What do all three situations have in common? There were Cornell players in the penalty box!!!
No offense tonight, until a five minute stretch in the third period. Cornell was outshot 26-8 through the first two periods. That's eight shots on goal, as in one shot every 5 minutes for the first two periods. Abysmal.
Cornell had some great pressure in the third when it was 3-2 Colorado College, but CC played a very disciplined game and didn't go to the box during that stretch. Cornell lets up a bit, and then it's 4-2 and the game is basically over.
Princeton "lost" a sloppy first game. Tied 6-6, and lost in the shootout. Kalemba let in six goals. Six. Then three more in the shootout. That's your preseason all-American. Exciting fact: Princeton scored three times during a five minute major. Won't see that again.
Tomorrow's consolation game is an EZAC special. Underperforming Princeton against has-not-proven-anything Cornell. It means nothing.
Great vacation.
Thanks for being the only member of the Lynah Faithful to honestly assess our hockey team.
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