This story has been updated.
Last week, Cornell skated off the ice at M&T Bank Center, dejected after just a two-point weekend against two middling ECAC teams.
Six days later, it was taking down the No. 5 team in the nation.
No. 11 men’s hockey did not just beat Quinnipiac, 5-0-1, in its last six leading up to Friday night’s contest — Cornell dominated the game, from start to finish. Using a big night from its second line, the Red downed the Bobcats, 6-1, in Hamden, Connecticut.
Was that something head coach Casey Jones ’90 could have predicted?
“I’d be lying [if I didn’t say] no,” Jones said with a laugh.
After a tough stretch and being winless in its last three games, Cornell flipped a switch.
“We had no passengers tonight,” Jones said. “I thought it was as complete a game as we’ve played. Great bounce back after last weekend.”
Freshman forward Aiden Long and junior forward Jonathan Castagna each had four points in Cornell’s first regulation win in Hamden since Feb. 25, 2022. Sophomore forward Charlie Major struck twice and freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer — after getting pulled in against Union six days ago — stopped 24 of 25 shots to secure the victory.
“When we don't let the game come to us and play the game the right way, that's when we can get ourselves in a little bit of trouble, and we didn't,” Jones said. “There was no point tonight that I felt we were pressing. We just stuck to our identity and it was good after talking about a reset this week. That was a great game for us to have.”
Both of Cornell’s first-period goals were ones Quinnipiac might have liked to have back — it took a pair of broken plays for the Red to earn its two-goal lead, including a deflection off a Bobcat skater and a near-save by Quinnipiac goaltender Dylan Silverstein.
But that is puck luck Cornell would happily accept.
“You get that bounce, and all of a sudden it's off and running confidence-wise,” Jones said. “Good start [to] the game, and sometimes we didn't reap the benefits of our good starts. It was nice to get out to lead.”
Freshman forward Aiden Long opened the scoring when his deceiving move atop the crease allowed the puck to deflect off a Bobcat skate blade and into the net 6:47 into the game. The eventual shot was a fortuitous bounce, but the chance was a hard-earned three-on-one rush that Cornell was finally able to capitalize.
Cornell controlled the play from then on, outshooting the Bobcats 10-6 and out-attempting them by a 18-9 margin.
Most noticeable for Cornell was its uptick in speed — after appearing a step slow against Union last weekend, the Red (18-7-1, 13-5-1 ECAC) pounced on the Bobcats (24-5-3, 15-3-1 ECAC) on Friday, stymying Quinnipiac's chances off the rush and counteracting it with offense of its own.
Only once did Quinnipiac’s lethal Ethan Wyttenbach — the nation’s leader in points — get a high-danger chance all alone on a breakaway, which came just a few moments in the second period, and was snuffed by Cournoyer.
But that was after sophomore defenseman Luke Ashton punctuated Cornell’s strong first period with a goal with just 34.6 seconds in the frame. His wrist shot was partially stopped by Silverstein, but the puck snuck through his pads and trickled slowly into the back of the net.
“When we don't let the game come to us and play the game the right way, that's when we can get ourselves in a little bit of trouble, and we didn't,” Jones said. “There was no point tonight that I felt we were pressing. We just stuck to our identity and it was good after talking about a reset this week. That was a great game for us to have.”
Quinnipiac wound up retaliating in the second period, as Ben Riche potted his first NCAA goal to cap off a beautiful Bobcat passing play just 3:29 in.
But that was all that the Bobcats would get — Quinnipiac did edge Cornell in shots, 15-11, in the middle stanza, but the Red was able to tack on two more scores to lengthen its lead. Those two strikes came in just a 1:34 span.
Junior forward Jonathan Castagna made it a 3-1 game just shy of the seven-minute mark, capitalizing on a nifty short through feed from Long. Castagna snuck by the Bobcat defensemen and roofed a shot over Silverstein to restore the two-goal lead.
And before Quinnipiac had time to regroup, a give-and-go passing play between sophomore forward Charlie Major and freshman forward Gio DiGiulian was finished by Major. He fired the puck into a gaping net with Silverstein out of position to make it 4-1 with 12:13 to go in the second.
“That one goal [Castagna] scored, was huge for us to get the momentum back and kind of get us rolling back on it there,” Jones said. “
The third period began with desperation from the Bobcats — after all, Quinnipiac used a three-goal third period in its 4-1 win over Cornell back on Jan. 17 at Lynah Rink.
Cournoyer was forced to make his best save of the evening less than two minutes into the final frame, when a one-timer off a Bobcat stick deflected off Cournoyer’s skate to mitigate the two-on-one rush.
Cournoyer was excellent on Friday night, many of his stops coming on high-danger chances to preserve the Cornell lead.
“I think that's what he's been all year,” Jones said. “I think he just gives us a chance to win every night. He's calm in there. There wasn't a whole lot lying around, second-chance opportunities, and that's when he's at his best.”
And just when it looked like Cornell was quieting down offensively, two more tallies in just 56 seconds iced any semblance of a comeback for the Bobcats.
First, freshman forward Caton Ryan — whose linemates, Castagna and Long, were already on the score sheet — fired a wrist shot that beat Silverstein on the far side to make it a 5-1 game. Major followed that up with a beautiful move to secure his second goal of the game, deking to his backhand and celebrating wildly when it sailed over the netminder.
The second line of Ryan, Castagna and Long combined for 10 points on Friday night.
“Every time they were on the ice, they were dangerous,” Jones said of the second line. “They played it right. They were at a good speed. They didn't really give much up. So that's the best part about it.”
Cornell’s shouts on the ice and on the bench were loud. It was 6-1 Cornell not even halfway through the third period, and M&T Bank Arena was nearly empty.
“I don't think they'd lost at home yet, so we knew it was gonna be a tough game today coming in. And it was,” Jones said. “They were scoring at a high rate, and I just thought we were collectively dialed in to make sure that we were playing the right way to give ourselves a chance.”
Cornell held on to the final buzzer, embracing Cournoyer after its second-largest margin of victory of the year.
The win, though, might be the largest of them all.
“We needed a good game,” Jones said. “We were frustrated after last weekend. … It was a situation where it was just a good collective effort for the team [and] we want to bank that right now.”
Cornell will look to secure a weekend sweep when it takes on Princeton at 7 p.m. Saturday at Hobey Baker Rink. All action will stream live on ESPN+.
“Don't want to savor [the win] too much as [we have] a big game tomorrow here that we have with the way the standings are going,” Jones said. “It’ll be important for us to get right back out. Be mentally tough. This trip is hard, so we gotta have some mental toughness to be prepared for Princeton.”
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.
