Cornell Notes is The Sun’s weekly notebook about the Cornell men’s and women’s hockey teams. It is produced by The Cornell Daily Sun hockey beat.
Earning a split against No. 13 Massachusetts was a strong result for No. 17 men’s hockey, a team that had played zero regular season games entering the weekend. For head coach Casey Jones ’90, allowing just one goal at even strength all weekend was a feat worth celebrating.
“It’s exciting to be playing, you know?” Jones said. “That was a good opening weekend for us to go to Massachusetts. … [I’m] really excited about the effort we put in and the details in our game. And [we] still have a long ways to go to improve, but obviously, good first weekend.”
As the team boarded the bus for the long drive back from Amherst to Ithaca, Jones caught wind of what the players were talking about: the Harvard game.
“I think the younger guys already know. I think they can sense it, right?” Jones said about the Cornell-Harvard rivalry. “I don't think [it will be] an issue. It's just sometimes you get too hyped up for it, right? You gotta stay in the moment.”
Cornell will head east to open up ECAC play against archrival Harvard (1-0-1, 0-0-0 ECAC) on Friday, before heading up to Hanover, New Hampshire to face Dartmouth (2-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) on Saturday.
Freshmen Heating Up
Cornell scored four goals this weekend, with three of them coming off the sticks of first-years. Freshman forward Gio DiGiulian scored once in each game, while freshman defenseman Xavier Veilleux notched his first collegiate goal on Saturday.
DiGiulian centered a line with junior forward Luke Devlin and senior forward Nick DeSantis, which was one of Cornell’s most noticeable lines in its opening weekend.
“It definitely helps having those guys with me because of the veteran presence,” DiGiulian said. “They've been here for a couple years, so they've kind of taken me under their belt, and I think it's helped me a lot.”
DiGiulian was named the ECAC Rookie of the Week for his two-goal weekend. A few other newcomers notched their first points as Cornellians — sophomore defenseman Michael Fisher assisted on DiGiulian’s first goal on Friday, while freshman forward Caton Ryan assisted on a sophomore forward Charlie Major power-play goal on Saturday.
Jones noted that he intends to continue to mix the younger players with upperclassmen. From Cornell’s opening weekend lines, only one offensive line had more than one freshman on it, and each defensive pairing connected a returning player with a newer one.
Question Marks Between The Pipes
Cornell utilized a goaltending tandem against Massachusetts — senior goaltender Remington Keopple earned the start on Friday before giving way to freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer for his first collegiate start on Saturday.
Keopple finished Friday with 14 saves on 16 shots and an 0.875 save percentage, though he was not tested quite as much as Cournoyer was on Saturday. Cournoyer stopped 33 of 34 on Saturday for his first win.
Jones did not reveal a starting goaltender for Friday, nor did he say whether he intends to utilize both goaltenders once again.
“There’s competition at the position, so we're just going to assess who's going to give us the best chance to win that game, and then wake up next morning to make a new assessment,” Jones said. “We have multiple guys that can play, but that doesn't mean multiple guys are gonna play — [if] someone gets hot, someone gets hot.”
Cournoyer’s athleticism was on full display Saturday night. But Jones noticed more than that:
“I thought his composure for his first game was noticeable, which was nice,” Jones said. “That's usually the thing that takes a chance to settle in. So I was really excited for him for that.”
Scouting The Opponents
Both Harvard and Dartmouth are receiving votes in the latest USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll.
Harvard tied No. 9 Connecticut on Oct. 31, losing to the Huskies in the shootout. The Crimson bounced back on Tuesday, defeating Stonehill 6-2, but will have a short recovery period before the Red visit Bright-Landry Hockey Center on Friday.
Jones took note of Harvard’s depth — the Crimson boast a roster comprising 10 NHL draft picks, including three that were selected this past June. That number does not include one of Harvard’s most lethal weapons, Mick Thompson — the sophomore forward is up to three points in two games coming off a freshman campaign where he was named to the ECAC all-rookie team. He was joined on that team by Ben Charette, who so far has posted a .959 save percentage in two appearances.
The Crimson’s captain, Joe Miller, tallied one assist on Tuesday but has notoriously tested the Red. The Toronto Maple Leafs’ sixth-round pick in 2020 has seven points in nine games against Cornell in his career.
Dartmouth has scored 11 goals in its first two games and is averaging a power-play goal once every three attempts. The Big Green is led by Hayden Stavroff, who had a hat trick in Dartmouth’s season-opener against Stonehill and added another goal in a win over Yale.
The Big Green — coming off of two-straight ECAC championship weekend appearances — have touted a goaltending tandem to kick off the 2025-2026 season. Junior Roan Clarke got the nod against Stonehill, but Montreal Canadiens pick Emmett Croteau — an all-Ivy second team selection in 2024-2025 — started on Tuesday and stopped 22 of 23.
“Dartmouth were handling Yale — they look like they're playing same style, they're up and down the sheet, pretty good. … And with Harvard, it looks like they're deep. Looks like they got good size. Looks like two good teams,” Jones said. “But for the most part, for me, we're still in such infancy and it's more about where we can get better and how we can go before we focus on them.”
Cornell will take on Harvard at Bright-Landry Hockey Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts at 7 p.m. Friday, before making the drive to Dartmouth on Saturday for another 7 p.m. tilt. All action will stream live on ESPN+.
“It’s obviously really important to open ECAC play right and get off on a good foot,” Jones said. “So that's our main priority right now, is to set ourselves up here for the long term. It’s an important weekend for us.”
Bonus: Walsh Named to U.S. Collegiate Selects Roster
It was announced Thursday that junior forward Ryan Walsh will join the U.S. Collegiate Selects team at the 2025 Spengler Cup. Taking place in Davos, Switzerland from Dec. 26-31, the Spengler Cup is an annual invitational tournament that features a handful of national teams.
This year, at the 97th edition of the tournament, an “all-star” team of college players will represent the “U.S. Collegiate Selects.” This is the first team of its kind at the Spengler Cup, although college players have previously taken part in it — in 1981 and 1982, Minnesota and North Dakota, respectively, had teams compete in the tournament.
Walsh joins some of the top college hockey players in the country on the Collegiate Selects team.
"It's well deserved. He's a complete player and we're excited about him being able to represent us and represent college athletics here at that highest level," Jones said in a Cornell Athletics press release. "He deserves a spot and I'm really glad they zeroed in on him. It gives him an opportunity to get some international experience and he'll bring that back to our team."
"Obviously, it's a big honor, something that I'm really excited for," Walsh said. "It's going to be a really cool experience — one of those things that you always hope to make, but you're never sure. Being able to get the call and have the opportunity to go play on such an amazing team with a bunch of amazing players is going to be really fun."
Jane McNally is a senior editor on the 143rd editorial board and was the sports editor on the 142nd editorial board. She is a member of the Class of 2026 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. You can follow her on X @JaneMcNally_ and reach her at jmcnally@cornellsun.com.
