No. 9 men’s hockey learned a valuable lesson last Saturday.
After being dealt a 3-2 overtime loss from its upstate foe, Colgate, Cornell knew it was not a matter of being the worse team, but a matter of discipline — or lack thereof.
“We just got pushed,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90. “We’ve got to learn. You’ve got to learn all situations. You gotta be prepared to take it.”
In all, the Red’s undisciplined performance last Saturday manifested into 25 minutes of penalties, many of them careless stick infractions or retaliation roughing minors. Both of Colgate’s goals in regulation came on the power play, and Cornell — coupled with its struggle to finish — was not able to muster many chances due to its influx of penalties.
“Maybe [discipline] has gotten away from us a little bit,” Jones said. “Sometimes you don't really notice. Maybe something's leaking on you, and you don’t notice until it really, really leaks. It’s one of those situations that [made] us snap into focus now this week, and it just can't happen again.”
Up next for Cornell? A four-game road trip with crucial implications for ECAC playoff seeding. Its upcoming opponents — Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Union — are not in contention for a top-four spot like the Red is, but must be beaten if Cornell wants to continue its fight for the Cleary Cup.
A board in the men’s hockey facilities currently reads two words: “road warriors.”
“Gotta get it done, right?” Jones said. “Our focal point right now is RPI and making sure that we're ready to play 60 minutes of Cornell hockey, and then we'll refocus on Saturday. … But we've had a pretty singular focus all year with the mentality [that] the next game is the most important game.”
Cornell will face RPI at 7 p.m. Friday in Troy, New York, before making the short trip to Schenectady, New York, for a tilt against Union at the brand-new M&T Bank Center at 7 p.m. Saturday. All action will stream live on ESPN+.
Walsh and Castagna Will Play, Devlin Remains Sidelined
After serving a one-game suspension last Saturday against Colgate for a major cross-checking penalty taken last Friday, junior forward Ryan Walsh will play this weekend, Jones confirmed.
The Red took quite a scare when junior forward Jonathan Castagna was tossed from Saturday’s game for a major penalty on a hit, leaving the Red without its top two centers and members of the leadership group. As of Tuesday, Castagna had not been met with further disciplinary action from the ECAC — the only conference in Division I hockey that does not make suspension information publicly available — and will slot into the lineup against RPI and Union.
Junior forward Luke Devlin — who has not played since Jan. 24 against Harvard — will remain out of the lineup this weekend due to injury, and has not been practicing with the team. After originally denoting the status of Devlin’s injury to The Sun as “day-to-day” on Feb. 3, Jones upgraded it to “week-to-week” on Tuesday.
Devlin, who also missed the entirety of the 2024-2025 season due to injury, brings a physical force to the Red’s lineup that was sorely missed last weekend.
“I think we'll see him [again this season],” Jones said. “But [we] want to make sure that he's healthy and feeling good. … [Devlin is] not practicing right yet, but obviously making progress and [is] in a good spot.”
NPI Check-In
Cornell stands at 8th in the national percentage index — the mathematical determinant of the NCAA tournament field — as of Thursday evening. Sandwiching the Red are two ECAC foes, Dartmouth (7th) and Quinnipiac (9th).
Right now, Cornell is in good standing to receive an at-large bid to the national tournament. Wins over RPI (56th) and Union (30th) shouldn’t vault the Red up the ratings much further, but some matchups for Cornell fans to watch this weekend include Quinnipiac (9th) vs. Princeton (25th) and Providence (6th) vs. Northeastern (32nd).
Scouting the Capital Region
Cornell cruised to a 6-1 win over RPI on Nov. 22 at Lynah Rink, a game in which Walsh tallied four points. Back then, the Engineers were fighting through a tough start.
“RPI is a different team than we saw the first time. I think you knew that was gonna happen,” Jones said.
Coached by the highly respected Eric Lang, RPI began its season 0-6, but has since garnered a handful of eye-popping results. The Engineers took then-No. 8 Quinnipiac to overtime on the road (ultimately falling 4-3) on Jan. 10 and boast wins against Clarkson (twice) and Union.
Luciano Wilson (graduate transfer from Minnesota State) paces the RPI offense with 19 points, while Filip Sitar (sophomore transfer from Connecticut) leads the way with eight goals.
“We’re gonna have to be prepared for a team that's playing tighter, playing more collectively as a unit there,” Jones said.
In net, Nate Krawchuk has established himself as the Engineers’ starting goaltender, posting a .899% save percentage in 19 contests. However, Krawchuk did not play in RPI’s most recent loss to St. Lawrence — the start was given to sophomore Carson Dorfman, who was pulled after allowing three goals on 12 shots and replaced by junior Bruno Bruveris. If healthy, though, Krawchuk should get the nod.
Union on Saturday night poses a tougher test. The Garnet Chargers are not the same team that swept the Red in the season series last year, but they do bear a dangerous man advantage and a high-octane offense — Union has scored fewer than two goals in a game just six times across 28 contests.
One of those six times, though, came against Cornell on Nov. 21, when the Red edged the Garnet Chargers by a 2-1 score.
“Union’s got one of the better forward crews in the league,” Jones said. The Garnet Chargers’ leading scorer, Brandon Buhr, is a former recruit of Jones’ — Buhr played one semester at Clarkson before leaving and committing to Union.
“That's a team that can score, and you’ve got to be ready,” Jones said. “The power play [is] a big weapon.”
Coupled with the nation’s best penalty kill, the Union power play operates at a 22.8% clip, good for 20th in the nation. One of those successful tries came against Cornell the last time these two teams squared off.
The best elixir for the lethal Garnet Charger man advantage? It’s simple for Jones: not giving them a chance.
“Hopefully they don’t see one,” Jones said. “But I think we need to snap into our habits a little bit defensively here on our penalty kill, that’s been a little bit of our focal point this week.”
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.
