When Princeton forward Malcolm Green tucked his first NCAA goal in the third period on Saturday, the Cornell skaters had to be met with a bout of déjà vu.
Green chipped the puck over freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer after winning a footrace into the zone, while sophomore defenseman Michael Fisher dove — and missed — on a last-ditch attempt to stymie a breakaway.
That play was exactly how No. 11 men’s hockey had been getting burned all Saturday night at Hobey Baker Rink, where it fell to Princeton, 4-2. Cornell surrendered far too many numbers-up chances to the Tigers, who secured their first regulation win over Cornell since Jan. 21, 2022.
“I just think we mismanaged the game,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90. “A lot of our problems were self-inflicted. We need to have more edge. [We] need to have more assertiveness. We need to back it up.”
Princeton’s ability to sneak by the Red’s blueline was staggering in an uncharacteristic performance from the Cornell defense. Miscommunications plagued Cornell all the way up to the point Cournoyer was pulled for an extra attacker, with passes missing tapes and pucks drifting out of the zone.
“I think this team has shown the ability to respond to losses and setbacks,” Jones said, referencing the Red’s 6-1 beatdown of No. 5 Quinnipiac the night prior. “We still have to show the ability to respond to success.”
Cournoyer finished the game with 24 saves on 28 shots and faced a bevy of high-danger chances from the Tigers. Across the way, Princeton netminder Arthur Smith made 26 saves, though his defenders excelled in mitigating Cornell’s offensive-zone chances.
The Tigers’ stinginess was recognizable — Princeton head coach Ben Syer spent 13 years as the architect of Cornell’s defense, one of his main responsibilities in his tenure as an associate head coach under Mike Schafer ’86. Saturday marked Syer’s first win against his former team.
“I think [Princeton] was playing hard. I think it was an important game,” Jones said. “It was their senior night, [so] they had some energy.”
Cornell (18-8-1, 13-6-1 ECAC) scored twice in each frame the night prior to earn the decisive win over Quinnipiac. Cornell was on its way to continuing that trend against Princeton (15-11-2, 11-8-1 ECAC), potting two first-period goals, but the Tigers had a response each time.
First, just six seconds of an early man advantage for Cornell elapsed before the Red converted, as an attempted centering pass by junior forward Ryan Walsh instead ricocheted off a Tiger skater and snuck by Smith for the 1-0 lead.
But instead of doubling the lead like it had last night, the Red ultimately conceded a game-tying goal — a Cornell defenseman falling allowed Princeton’s Joshua Karnish to sneak behind and collect a stretch pass, sending him running on a breakaway. Karnish picked his corner over Cournoyer’s left shoulder to even things up with eight minutes left in the period.
Princeton couldn’t relish the tied game for long — just 37 seconds after Karnish responded, junior forward Tyler Catalano regained the lead for Cornell when he spun one home to make it 2-1.
From then on, Princeton fought hard for the equalizer. The Tigers outshot Cornell, 11-7, in the opening period, and attempted 17 shots as opposed to the Red’s 12.
That equalizer eventually came. The manner in which it did, however, couldn’t have been predicted.
After Smith robbed junior forward Jonathan Castagna on a shorthanded breakaway, a shot by Brendan Gorman on a Princeton power play soared above the net, but the puck took a tricky bounce off the stanchion, deflecting off the shinpad of an unsuspecting senior defenseman Jack O’Brien and straight into Cornell’s net.
“I actually didn't mind our first period. We got a couple of crazy bounces there," Jones said. "But I just think as the game wore on, I didn't think we had the same mentality, same intensity, same will to win as we had last night.”
The second period was not any kinder to the Red. Princeton strung together strong shifts in its offensive zone, kept Cornell hemmed on defense and seemingly won almost every 50-50 puck battle.
After playing the entirety of Friday night’s contest at even strength, a near five minute stretch of penalties tormented the Red, including junior forward Jake Kraft’s slashing penalty to prevent yet another Princeton breakaway.
Despite that, Cornell had a prime power-play opportunity to conclude the four overlapping penalties between the two teams. It was the Tigers, though, that took advantage.
Princeton’s David Jacobs forced a turnover with his team on the kill, and no Cornell skater was able to catch up to him as he broke out alone on Cournoyer and chipped one over the Red netminder’s shoulder.
Jacobs — one of the nine seniors being honored on Saturday for Princeton’s senior night — and his shorthanded goal were all the difference. His tally stood as the eventual game-winner, though not before Princeton nearly struck again when Cornell allowed a two-on-none rush for moments after the go-ahead goal that was defended well by Cournoyer.
It wasn’t until just past the midway point of the final frame that another goal was scored, and that was Green, making a valiant effort to beat Cornell to the puck and add some insurance to Princeton’s lead.
Cornell showed some life late when it pulled Cournoyer for the extra attacker with 4:24 left, but four saves by Smith and a pair of blocks by the Tiger defense in the final four minutes stifled Cornell’s comeback bid.
The loss saturates the excitement of Friday night’s thrashing of Quinnipiac. Princeton's heroics earned it a split of the season series against Cornell, something that has happened only three times in the last seven seasons.
“I didn't think we handled the success last night very well,” Jones said. “We’ve got to make sure that we can bank wins here, move on, and have success again. Understand what our identity is, and just play to that.”
Cornell will have to regroup quickly. St. Lawrence and Clarkson — both riding three-game winning streaks — will head to Lynah Rink, tasking Cornell with a pair of tough matchups to conclude its regular season.
“There's a lot to play for,” Jones said. “We're in a good spot right now, [but it is] still unfortunate that we let this one slip away here with it. We just want to kind of lay it on the line, and we’re gonna have to be able to win down the stretch here.”
Next Friday's and Saturday's games vs. St. Lawrence and Clarkson, respectively, are slated to begin at 7 p.m. All action will stream live on ESPN+, and Cornell’s five seniors will be honored postgame on Saturday.
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.
