It took junior defenseman Hoyt Stanley fifteen games to score his first goal of the season.
But boy, did that first one come at an apt time.
“That’s a big-time play,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90.
Don’t ask Stanley what he was thinking, though.
“Not a whole lot,” he admitted with a smile. “Just hyped up, I guess. Your first reaction was just to start screaming at the student section.”
Stanley’s tally with 3:09 remaining was ultimately the difference in No. 13 men’s hockey’s 2-1 win over No. 18 Princeton on Friday, and was the result of an impressive individual effort. After a nail-biting contest, his backhander sent almost 3,500 at Lynah Rink to their feet.
Despite scoring 12 goals in just two games last weekend against the University of Alaska Fairbanks, there seemed to be a better energy after the close 2-1 victory on Friday. Cornell (12-4-0, 7-2-0 ECAC) found another way to win, limiting Princeton (11-6-0, 7-4-0 ECAC) — averaging 3.8 goals per game entering the night — to just one score.
“We just got to find ways to win games differently. That's a different game tonight, too, because we've been able to score, right?” Jones said. “I love the fact that our power play scored. I love the fact that the power play after that, we had a good chance. … I thought we limited their chances. I was happy with that.”
Though first periods have been a strength of Cornell’s as of late, it was the visitors who dominated the opening 20 minutes on Friday night. The Red had just two shots by the halfway point of the frame, and just five met the pads of Princeton netminder Arthur Smith in all.
“I think we showed maybe a little bit of nerves in the first. I thought we settled down between periods, and I thought our game took off from there,” Jones said. “I really liked our second [period].”
The Tigers’ dominance was punctuated by Jaxson Ezman’s goal just 2:56 into the game. A point shot from Nick Marciano yielded a mighty rebound off of freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer’s pads, and Ezman buried the puck past a sprawling Cournoyer for the 1-0 lead.
“They came out flying. They were all over us,” Stanley said. “I think we weathered the storm and kept calm and collected. And I think even in the intermission, everyone's kind of stepping up, saying: ‘We got this, everyone just hang in there. That’s the best they have.”
The middle frame was much stronger for the Red, evident in both the shot count and the scoreboard — Cornell outshot Princeton 17-5 in period two and ultimately found the equalizing goal it was in search of.
The Red successfully fended off its first Princeton power play just about six minutes into the period, thanks in large part to Cournoyer’s four stops. Harnessing that momentum, Cornell kept pushing and earned a third opportunity on the man advantage at 10:09 of the period.
This time, Cornell would convert — the nation’s sixth-best power play entering Friday used a long shift in the offensive zone and ultimately tied the game up at one with just five seconds left on the power play. A freshman forward Caton Ryan fling from the blue line was deflected masterfully past Smith by freshman forward Chase Pirtle, allowing the Lynah Faithful to drop their shoulders.
Pirtle continued his steady production when utilized — the Far Hills, New Jersey native has bounced in and out of the lineup, but increased his totals to 3-5–8 in 10 games played in his young collegiate career.
“We got some scoring from some, some unlikely guys — or maybe not unlikely, but the big boys didn't necessarily score. So that's always nice,” Jones said.
Junior forward Jonathan Castagna was whistled for tripping with 6:07 left in the second, tasking the Red with its first kill of the night. However, Princeton would not register a shot on the power play, and the teams would ultimately head into their locker rooms with the score knotted 1-1.
“I just thought we settled in after the first,” Jones said. “You could hear the guys talking in there. [The] right guys took charge of the locker room, and we kind of came out, and I really liked our second. That's one of our better periods of the year.”
For Jones, the way to describe the third period was simple: “a dogfight.”
To kick things off, Cornell came close — sophomore defenseman Michael Fisher hit the post with a wristshot, still searching for his first goal of the season — but neither team surrendered as much as an inch.
That is, until about three minutes left in the game.
Stanley used some skillful footwork and hands at the blue line to generate an opening, which he took without second thought. With traffic in front of Smith, he had no time to see Stanley pivoting over to his backhand — and barely even reacted when Stanley flicked it top shelf to give Cornell the lead.
“The puck was kind of bobbling, on the D-to-D pass, so I was kind of telling myself I gotta do something here,” Stanley said. “So I just did a few tight turns, saw that I got some speed against the guy, beat him, and then just kind of put my head down on my backhand. I didn’t even look at the goalie. So I'm lucky it went in.”
Princeton pressed — penalties on both sides caused a four-on-four, which the Tigers decided was a suitable time to pull Smith — and kept Cornell buried deep in its defensive zone. But some timely saves by Cournoyer and a pair of blocks allowed time to tick off the clock and cemented the Cornell victory.
The win both extends the Red’s win streak against Princeton to four games and preserves Cornell’s perfect record on home ice — 9-0-0 — this season. It will look to complete its third consecutive weekend sweep on Saturday night, though No. 7 Quinnipiac poses a lofty test.
“Got a big game tomorrow with the top-10 team coming in here. We're excited about that, but it's just a matter of us just staying the course and turn the page [to] tomorrow and get on with Quinnipiac,” Jones said.
Puck drop for the Red and the Bobcats at Lynah Rink is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday. All action will stream live on ESPN+ and air regionally on SNY.
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.
