TROY, N.Y. — Practically every forward for No. 9 men’s hockey slammed their stick into the boards on Friday.
Junior forward Jonathan Castagna did it in the first period, when his hard shot from the slot was saved and cleared out.
Junior forward Ryan Walsh did it in the second period, after his Grade A chance finishing off a two-on-one rush was blocked.
Freshman forward Reegan Hiscock did it in the third period, when he didn’t get everything on his one-timer and pulled it wide.
It was a whole lot of the same for Cornell, which earned a 1-1 tie (and shootout win) against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute at Houston Field House on Friday night. The Red mustered 62 shot attempts through three periods of regulation plus overtime, but 31 saves by RPI netminder Bruno Bruveris and an additional 19 blocked shots by the Engineers fueled Cornell’s latest setback.
“It was one of those situations where we got a little frustrated offensively,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90. “It was frustrating that we couldn't sustain the puck in the offensive zone. They were getting their second support to the puck quicker than we were, and that was giving us some trouble.”
This RPI team yielded an entirely different on-ice product than what Cornell faced on Nov. 22, when the Red cruised to a 6-1 victory at Lynah Rink.
“I think they’re an improved team and it probably caught us a little bit,” Jones said. “Don't know if [we] want to listen or not in that regard during the course of [the] week, but it was hard fought and it was important for us to get that second point tonight.”
That second point came in a shootout victory, which went four rounds and ended in Cornell’s favor thanks to three stops by senior goaltender Remington Keopple, making his first start in net since Jan. 10.
Despite freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer being named a semifinalist for the Mike Richter Award earlier that day, Cornell’s coaching staff opted to give Keopple the start with just a handful of regular-season games remaining.
“Just thought it was time,” Jones said on the decision to start Keopple. “He’s been good, he's always practiced hard. We’re planning on playing for a bit. We want to make sure that we’ve got everything in order in net just in case. And I thought he earned that start tonight.”
Keopple has had success against RPI, as he pitched a shutout of the Engineers at Houston Field House in last year’s regular season finale. That win was one of seven in a row for the Red against RPI, a streak that was soiled from Saturday night’s tie. In fact, during that streak, Cornell had not scored fewer than three goals in any of those wins, and scored at least six goals in three of them.
Last time out against RPI, Cornell tallied two first-period goals and never looked back. Friday night’s opening frame was a different story. The Engineers finished checks and made their presence felt in the first period, firing multiple shots that Keopple had to pad away.
Cornell (17-6-1, 12-4-1 ECAC)earned a pair of power play chances in the first, but neither wound up successful. The Red mustered a couple of Grade As on RPI goaltender Bruveris — starting just his third game this season and sixth of his collegiate career — but none found a way past the Latvia native. That would be the only special teams action of the game. RPI stayed out of the box for the rest of the night, while Cornell — after taking 25 minutes' worth of penalties last Saturday against Colgate — did not take a single penalty all night.
RPI (7-21-1, 4-12-1 ECAC) played a frustrating game — getting its skates in front of Cornell shots and relentlessly poke-checking pucks away from Red sticks. Cornell struggled to connect on passes, largely attributable to the stingy, lockdown defense boasted by the Engineers.
“When we're good, we’re tight together in the offensive zone. The second [skater] supports fast,” Jones said. “We were one and done a lot [tonight]. We were just one person on puck — they were outmanning us, and they blocked a ton of shots.”
And as Cornell slammed its sticks down in frustration, it was RPI that drew first blood in the second period. A low shot from the point by Jimmy Goffredo was masterfully redirected by Mathieu Bourgault, deflecting over the shoulder of Keopple, who had no chance of stopping it. The Engineers celebrated as they took a 1-0 lead with 10:27 left in the period.
Playing with desperation not to be upset by RPI, sitting 56th (eighth to last) in the national percentage index, the Red fired off eight consecutive shot attempts to close out the period — but four were blocked, one went wide and three were saved by Bruveris.
“I thought we had enough chances again tonight to get to two [goals], to get the three,” Jones said. “You just gotta just kind of plow through that. You're gonna have some times where it doesn't go in for you. We got to stay in the course.”
In the third, it seemed like things were swaying further in the Engineers’ direction — with each RPI shot block or Bruveris save, the crowd at Houston Field House grew louder and louder.
But freshman forward Aiden Long had other ideas — a shot from the slot by freshman forward Caton Ryan took a deflection off of Long and finally found a seam through Bruveris, tying the game at 1-1 just over seven minutes into the final frame.
The Engineers saved an outburst of energy for the final minute, tasking Keopple with two outstanding saves — one on a hard deflection to the net and the other an attempt from just atop the crease — before the clock struck zero.
Not even continuous three-on-three overtime — which Cornell was 1-1 on the year in — could solve the deadlock. RPI managed four shots on goal to Cornell’s one, ultimately controlling the extra period, but Keopple once again came up big.
“It was obviously a good game for him,” Jones said. “He made some key saves, and especially in traffic, tips that were on net.”
Five minutes came and went, giving way to a shootout — the Red’s first of the 2025-2026 season — to decide who would walk away with the extra ECAC point. Cornell’s two prolific offensive weapons, Walsh and sophomore forward Charlie Major, were stopped, but goals from Castagna and Fisher — plus three saves from Keopple — sealed the shootout victory for the Red.
Cornell will look to earn five of six possible points on this road trip when it takes on Union — which stormed back from a 4-1 deficit to beat Colgate, 7-6, on Friday — at 7 p.m. Saturday in Schenectady, New York. 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.
