When No. 17 men’s hockey entered the locker room on Friday night down 4-3 to the University of Nebraska-Omaha after the second period, the score was not the bulk of its worries.
Even after blowing a 3-0 lead.
“I thought we were getting outhit at home,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90. “We can’t get outhit at home.”
After losing its way and relinquishing an early lead, the Red got back to what it does best in the third period — physical, relentless pressure. It was that — plus three third-period goals — which propelled Cornell over Omaha, 6-4, in what was a thrilling opening game of the two-game series.
“Sometimes you get starts like that. And I thought we really loosened up [after],” Jones said. “I thought we lost our physicality when we got the lead early.”
The Mavericks responded to Cornell early 3-0 with four unanswered goals, before Cornell potted three consecutively to overtake Omaha and remain perfect on home ice in 2025-2026.
Cornell used goals from junior defenseman George Fegaras, freshman defenseman Xavier Veilleux and freshman forward Aiden Long to create a 3-0 lead in the first period, all of which came in the first 9:16 of the game.
Fegaras got the scoring started when his booming slapshot beat Omaha netminder Dawson Cowan 4:19 into the game. Fegaras celebrated with the “monkey off the back” gesture, as the Red’s first goal of the game also marked Fegaras’ first of the season.
Veilleux’s tally came less than three minutes later, a stuff-in from the crease on the power play. The goal was an example of the benefits reaped from crashing the net in the offensive zone, a point of emphasis made by Jones in practice this past week.
“We have to be that way. That's who we are. That's what we want to do,” Jones said.
Long’s first collegiate goal, coming 2:14 after Veilleux’s tally and the result of a strong rush from Long and freshman forward Caton Ryan, gave the Red a 3-0 lead just 9:16 into the contest.
Quickly, though, things changed. Fegaras was whistled for cross-checking with 8:07 left, and from there the Mavericks began to swing the momentum.
The Red would kill off the ensuing advantage, but an extended offensive zone shift by the Mavericks culminated with their first goal, coming four seconds after Fegaras was released from the penalty box — the first of four unanswered goals by the Mavericks.
“I take some credibility and ownership on that. I had a stupid penalty there, and they kind of got momentum from the power play,” Fegaras said. “There [are] a lot of things that happen, but I’ve got to stay out of the box.”
Omaha made it 3-2 with 2:45 left in the period after a costly turnover from behind the net due to the relentless Maverick forecheck. Jacob Slipec’s late tally left a sour taste in Cornell’s mouth after the first 20 minutes, a period which — up until the end — the Red controlled.
But the Mavericks tied the game 2:20 into the second period as Trevor Wong was credited for a goal that, due to traffic in front, freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer never saw deflect beneath him.
“We just got to make them earn everything. I didn't think we made him earn everything,” Jones said. “They beat us up ice quite a bit tonight, which hasn't happened all year long. … We will have to take a peek at that, because that's the most we've given up numbers up the ice in a long time.”
The Red continued to outshoot the Mavericks (10-6 in the second period and 43-18 overall), but it could not stop the bleeding — the recipe for Omaha’s first lead of the game included a Cornell penalty and a fortuitous bounce, as sophomore forward Charlie Major’s backhanded clearing attempt of an odd-man rush rebound ricocheted off of a Maverick skate and into the Cornell net just about 10 minutes into the second.
Omaha’s third and fourth goals were generous bounces, both of which Cournoyer did not have much control over. However, sloppy defending and a lack of physicality in front of the Cornell netminder culminated in a lowly .692 save percentage through 40 minutes.
“We kind of got away from our physicality in the second,” Long said. “But I think right off the hop in third, we started to hit a little bit more, and that kind of gives the rest of the guys kind of the juice we need to get going. I think that was probably a big part in kind of swinging momentum in our direction.”
In search of a response, Cornell earned its fifth power play opportunity less than two minutes into the third. And after a flurry of opportunities, freshman forward Gio DiGiulian sniped a shot that beat Cowan, levelling the score at 4-4 and ending a six-game goal drought for the first-year.
Able to drop its shoulders with a tie game, Cornell found the prized hard-nosed game it had left in the first period. The Red was rewarded for its physical efforts when freshman forward Reegan Hiscock capitalized off the brilliant DiGiulian feed to restore the lead for Cornell with 9:51 left, and Long ultimately iced the game with an empty netter — his second collegiate goal — with 1:52 remaining.
Cournoyer shut the door on Omaha in the third period, stopping all five shots the Mavericks flung his way in the third, and his defense returned to its fundamentals that had previously gotten away — beginning with physicality.
“I give them credit. I thought we regrouped between the second and third and came out with a purpose and got the job done,” Jones said.
As of Friday night, the victory shoots Cornell up a few spots in the NPI ratings — the mathematical determinant of the NCAA Tournament field — to the No. 12 spot. A win against the Mavericks on Saturday night could do wonders for a team looking to position itself favorably for an at-large bid.
But in order to do that, Fegaras said, lapses like the one on Friday night won’t cut it.
“It's definitely a learning moment. … If you let the foot off the gas one second, other teams will capitalize on our mistakes,” Fegaras said.
The Red will look to secure a sweep of Omaha as it faces off against the Mavericks at 7 p.m. Saturday night at Lynah Rink. All action will stream live on ESPN+.
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.
