Seconds before junior forward Jonathan Castagna scored in the third period of Saturday’s game against Harvard, he was willing himself to stay calm.
“[It was] just a regular two-on-one,” Castagna said. “[I] just tried to stay calm and slow it down a little and take what was given.”
When his wrist shot found the back of the net, all he could do was scream. More than 4,267 fans jumped to their feet at Lynah Rink as Castagna was swarmed by teammates.
He dropped his shoulders a little, too.
“Obviously, everyone's dream is to score a goal in the Harvard game,” Castagna said, “so it was nice to finally get to do that at home.”
Castagna’s goal was one of four used to give Cornell a 4-1 win over its Ivy League archrival. The Red potted three of those in the second period — including two in just 26 seconds — to secure a series sweep against the Crimson.
“That's as close to 120 minutes of our identity [and] how we want to play that we've seen this year,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90.
The victory also caps off a weekend sweep, with the Red collecting five of a possible six points against a pair of the top teams in the ECAC.
“It was a full 60 minutes from us, which we obviously needed because they’re no pushover,” Castagna said. “That’s a pretty good team out there. So the fact that we were able to sustain that pressure the whole game, it felt like it was a really good game for us.”
Freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer allowed a relatively late goal that ended his shutout bid, but was sharp in all three periods and stopped 17 of 18 shots to earn the win. He was one of a few freshmen who stood out in Saturday’s high-intensity contest, paired with freshman forward Aiden Long’s two-point performance.
The first-years excelled thanks to upperclassmen leadership, which provided them with proper preparation.
“The complete opposite of what you would probably imagine,” Castagna said when asked what he and his fellow upperclassmen leaders told the team before the game. “Just trying to keep everybody loose and [remind them] it’s just another day in the office for us, right? It’s a big game, but you can’t go into it gripping your stick too tight, or it’s not going to go the way you wanted it to. So I thought we did a good job being loose and playing our game right from the start.”
With the Lynah Rink air carrying a potent fishy smell from the onset of puck drop, the first period was played relatively even between the two squads. Shots on goal read 9-9 after 20 minutes of play, with Cournoyer looking sharp to start after allowing a goal on the first shot he saw the night prior.
Time eventually expired on the first period with the game scoreless, though not before junior forward Luke Devlin was whistled for interference with 34 seconds left.
Cornell (14-5-0, 9-3-0 ECAC) kick-started the middle frame by finishing off the penalty kill, and then the Red got to work. Harvard (11-8-1, 9-4-0 ECAC) mustered just three shots on goal in period two, while Cornell out-attempted the Crimson 27-6.
And once the Red got one, offense kept coming.
Continuing his impressive weekend, junior forward Jake Kraft got the Red on the board 11:27 into the period. Given time and space up close to Charette, Kraft roofed it over the goaltender to break the stalemate.
23 seconds later, it was 2-0. A hard shot on net by junior forward Jonathan Castagna generated a juicy rebound that junior defenseman George Fegaras jumped on, burying the puck glove side to double the Red’s lead.
Cornell added to its lead with just 1:05 to go in the second — freshman forward Aiden Long got in on the fun with a shot that just trickled through the legs of Charette, making it a 3-0 game and capping off an explosive second period.
“For me, it was more the fact that we had that second period going where we got momentum, and it was shift after shift after shift. We just kept coming,” Jones said. “So it was good to see us get some reward from that, and get a chance to put a team away.”
The Crimson came out with a bit more edge in the third period, attempting a handful of shots on an eventful first shift, but Cornell mustered a handful of blocks that kept Harvard off the scoreboard.
Harvard later hit the post with a shot, and the Crimson’s hard work was rewarded with a goal a few minutes after that. Mick Thompson — Harvard’s leader in points — converted to cut the deficit to two goals with 6:57 to play.
Thompson and the rest of his team did not have much time to celebrate — just 47 seconds after Harvard’s strike, Castagna came streaking down the wing. Any Harvard momentum was quickly squashed when his shot beat Charette.
“You know, you talk about big games, like [Madison Square Garden]. And honestly, for me, [this] game is right up there,” Castagna said. “The crowd and the noise and the smell of fish.”
Now a 4-1 game with 6:10 to play, Cornell clamped down on defense. The Crimson pulled Charette for the extra skater and appeared the cut the deficit to 4-2 with a couple of minutes left, but a successful coach’s challenge for offsides scrubbed the strike off the board.
The Red held on from there, and the final horn sounded as an over-capacity crowd erupted in cheers.
“Never gets old,” Jones said about the atmosphere. “Never gets old.”
The win caps off Cornell’s eight-game homestand, with the Red emerging victorious in seven of those. Cornell will now embark on a daunting slate of games away from Lynah Rink, as seven of its next eight contests are on the road.
“I was disappointed,” Jones said about the schedule. “That late in the season, where there's gonna be a lot of games that you're not home for for a large part of it, I've just never seen it. Especially with the fan base we have for this league.”
Next up, Cornell will head east to take on Yale and Brown in New England next Friday and Saturday. Puck drop for both games is slated for 7 p.m., and all action will stream live on ESPN+.
“There is a difference [between] playing on the road versus playing at home,” Castagna said. “But we try not to pay too much attention to that. … It's just keep doing what we're doing, because it's working.”
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.
