For head coach Casey Jones ’90, junior forward Jake Kraft’s game goes beyond just scoring.
“He practices hard every day,” Jones said. “He epitomizes Cornell hockey, the way he plays, the way he goes after it.”
Kraft’s importance to the lineup goes beyond points, beyond goals, beyond assists. He consistently forechecks hard, skates faster and isn’t afraid to lay a big hit.
But after scoring just two goals through his first 17 games, Kraft matched that total on Friday — including the game-winning goal in sudden-death overtime — to give No. 12 men’s hockey a hard-fought 2-1 win over No. 10 Dartmouth.
“That's probably about as complete a game as we’ve played, going from start to finish,” Jones said.
Cornell (13-5-0, 8-3-0 ECAC) outshot Dartmouth (14-5-1, 8-3-1 ECAC), 31-16, and out-attempted the Big Green by a 66-42 margin. Dartmouth goaltender Emmett Croteau’s 29 saves were not enough to hold off Cornell’s onslaught — the Red’s expected goals (xG) for Friday night’s victory were a whopping 4.2.
“I thought we had chances,” Jones said. “We haven't exploded [offensively] a little bit lately. So as I told the guys tonight, that's why you play a pretty complete game, so you can win a 2-1 game, right?”
Freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer was called upon for 15 saves to secure the win, avenging the earlier 2-1 loss Dartmouth dealt to him back in November. He made a handful of key stops in the waning moments of regulation to keep the game tied.
Cornell came out of the gates flying, with the new-look first line of Kraft, junior forward Ryan Walsh and freshman forward Gio DiGiulian doling out a couple of big hits and finding quality offensive zone time.
“It wasn't like [there was] a lack of scoring chances, we just needed something fresh,” Jones said when asked about the juggling of the lines. “I thought there was some chemistry with 10 [Kraft] and 14 [Walsh]. There just is. I like to have them sometimes on opposite lines, because they're both so responsible, so they can balance some lines, but I liked them tonight together.”
The Red did not allow the Big Green a shot on net until nearly nine minutes into the game. That shot, though, wound up in the back of Cornell’s net.
Jones cited “unforced turnovers” as being Cornell’s Achilles heel against Quinnipiac last weekend, and a costly turnover on the breakout for the Red on Friday night allowed Dartmouth to get on the board first.
As the Big Green stole the puck on the forecheck, Hank Cleaves’ short pass met Cam MacDonald just a few feet before freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer, and MacDonald executed a nifty shot fake before burying the puck for the 1-0 Dartmouth lead 8:49 into the game.
The score briefly quieted the Lynah Faithful, but the Red continued to collect offensive opportunities. Cornell would not be able to convert on a power play earned with 9:32 remaining in the period, and Dartmouth’s 1-0 edge would sustain as the opening period came to an end.
Throughout the second frame, an anxious sold-out Lynah Rink crowd watched as the Red found chance after chance but failed to put one past Croteau. The Red’s forecheck and stickwork in the defensive and neutral zones gave Dartmouth little room to operate.
With less than four minutes to play in the period, a Cornell cross-check gave Dartmouth a delayed penalty. Kraft, taking matters into his own hands, leveled a Big Green forward to end the delayed advantage. The big hit was perhaps a bit of foreshadowing, as it would be Kraft who soon had everyone at Lynah Rink on their feet.
Twenty seconds into the penalty kill, Kraft stole the puck and dished it off to Castagna, who one-timed it on goal. The rebound found Kraft with a wide-open cage, and he made no mistake, burying the puck and knotting the game, 1-1.
“They gave up a couple of breakaways against Harvard, so we knew if we attacked them, they would hopefully turn some pucks over, and it just worked out for the best for us,” Kraft said.
Cornell turned Dartmouth’s power play into a shorthanded showcase, allowing zero shots again and managing three shots on goal of its own, including a sophomore forward Charlie Major breakaway that was stopped.
“I thought we were prepared,”Jones said. "PK was good and hard, and they didn't really get much, which was good, because that's good power play.”
The 1-1 deadlock would hold into the third period, and after an initial Dartmouth push, Cornell took over. The Red continued to apply pressure, peppering Croteau, but the junior netminder had an answer for nearly everything Cornell threw at him.
There were no chances better than the ones the Red had on a power play with 4:10 remaining in the period, after Cleaves was whistled for his second penalty of the game. A faceoff win kept the Red in its offensive zone, and multiple grade-A opportunities were padded or blockered away by Croteau.
“I thought our power play, we got a little bit surprised under penalty on the fore check,” Jones said. “For some reason, at the start, we didn't handle it well. The first one didn't really get set up. But after that, we generated some really good chances.”
But no goals would find the back of the net in the final five minutes, and extra hockey — five minutes of three-on-three overtime — would be needed to decide the tightly fought battle between the Red and the Big Green.
Both teams earned rushes going either way in the first 30 seconds of the overtime period. Then, Kraft got the puck in the neutral zone. He chipped it ahead of the Dartmouth defender — and beat him.
Rushing towards the net, he had one thing in mind.
“I kind of knew I was going high blocker the whole way up,” Kraft said. “Just gonna rip it and see what happens.”
A perfectly executed move sent the puck soaring over Croteau, and Lynah Rink erupted.
“I kind of blacked out for a second,” Kraft said with a wide smile. “Just go to my teammates and celebrate.”
Kraft’s teammates swarmed him as his second goal of the night iced a top-10 win for Cornell and two crucial ECAC points. The result for the Red gave it sole possession of fourth place in the conference, with a date with second-place Harvard on Saturday at Lynah Rink.
“You want to play in front of that environment,” Jones said. “We tell people about it. We had a lot of games over break this year, without the students here. But that was a good feeling tonight.”
Cornell takes on Harvard at 7 p.m. Saturday at Lynah Rink. All action will stream live on ESPN+ and live updates will be provided @DailySunSports on X.
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.
