When junior forward Jake Kraft potted Cornell’s second goal just 8:28 into the game, all he could think to do was skate straight to the Red’s student section.
“It was a fun one,” Kraft said. “Not really much to say. We came out strong and bounces went our way.”
After all, the Lynah Faithful were stunned to silence after Friday night’s shocking loss to Harvard, No. 9 men’s hockey’s archrival. It was only fitting that the sold-out crowd of 4,267 at Lynah Rink was treated to a 4-0 shutout on Saturday night, evening the quarterfinal series at 1-1 and forcing the deciding game three.
“It was a good version of ourselves tonight,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90. “Pretty complete game for us, good response by our guys in terms of some urgency.”
On Friday night, Harvard looked faster, stronger and, quite frankly, like the better team. The tides turned on Saturday night — aided by a stellar performance from its top line, Cornell scored twice in the first period and never looked back.
Coupled with the victory came freshman goaltender Alexis Cournoyer’s first collegiate shutout — but he was quick to deflect the praise.
“I mean, to be honest, we got one more to go tomorrow,” Cournoyer said. “I'm not trying to be the guy that’s like, ‘job's not finished,’ but the job is actually not finished. You gotta get it done tomorrow.”
It’s a testament to Cournoyer and the rest of Cornell’s youth that, despite the shutout of its biggest rival, the group doesn’t want to dwell on it too much. And rightfully so — the Red has a winner-take-all contest in less than 24 hours’ time, and the recovery starts now.
“Just eat, flush out and kind of just go on autopilot [to] get ready for that game,” Kraft, who had two goals on Saturday, said. “It's pretty easy to get up for.”
Part of what makes the Harvard-Cornell rivalry at Lynah Rink so special is the atmosphere. And while the Lynah Faithful were lulled the night before, two quick Cornell goals injected much-needed life into the building.
“I thought that first goal was huge for us,” Jones said. “[Harvard goaltender Ben Charette] was so good last night, and [it was] a little squeaker there that gave us a little light, gave us energy.”
A squeaker it was. Senior forward Nick DeSantis flung the puck from below the left faceoff circle — a near impossible angle that somehow snuck through Charette’s pads 5:45 into the game.
And not even three minutes later, Kraft stuffed home a rebound to Charette’s left, upping the score to 2-0 and sending Lynah Rink into a frenzy. The net front goal was a tangible result of adjustments made after Friday’s loss, as Cornell did a much better job creating havoc atop the crease — a driving component of the Red’s offense this season.
“You don't want to play from behind in a do-or-die game,” Jones said. “I thought we had good pump from the start. We had good energy.”
The Red’s offensive clock was not the only thing ticking in the opening frame — defensively, Cornell (21-9-1) held Harvard (16-15-2) to just five shots on goal in the period, and fended off a Crimson man advantage before the break.
It did not seem like things could get much bleaker for Harvard offensively, but the second period only further pitted the Crimson back. Just four Harvard shots met Cournoyer in the frame, all of which he swallowed up with ease.
Cornell’s first-year netminder and ECAC Goaltender of the Year looked confident and poised between the pipes, finishing the contest with 16 saves. Cournoyer praised the shot blocks and active sticks from the defensive corps in front of him, dubbing Saturday night’s contest as the “easiest” he’s had all season.
“The boys played so good in front of me. [On] the PK, I think I got one shot against,” Cournoyer said. “I told the corps, ‘you guys had a great stick today,’ and [we’ve] got to do it tomorrow, too.”
It’s true — of Harvard’s three power plays in the game, just one shot met Cournoyer.
“I thought our penalty kill was outstanding tonight. That, to me, was a big part of the game,” Jones said. “We took a couple penalties there that gave them a chance to get in [the game], but I thought our penalty kill got us out of that.”
It helped that Cornell tripled its lead just 5:16 into the second period, courtesy of a beautifully executed play from the Red’s top line. Walsh and Kraft took off with speed on a two-on-one chance, and Walsh dished a perfect feed to Kraft, who drilled a one-timer past Charette for his second score of the game.
All of a sudden, Cornell looked like the team in command — not like the one that had let game one slip from its grasp.
“We got the goals the right way,” Jones said. “We were hard, and we were getting pucks in behind [Harvard] and going to work. That's when [the top line is] on their game. That's who they are.”
It was not until nearly 13 minutes had elapsed in the third period that Cornell was awarded its first power play of the contest, after the Red had killed off a Crimson man advantage in each period. With Harvard yielding the sixth-fewest penalty minutes per game in the country, Jones emphasized making its few-and-far-between chances count.
Count they did — queue junior defenseman Hoyt Stanley’s wrister over the left shoulder of Charette that made it a 4-0 game with 5:22 to play.
“We worked all week knowing that we're not going to get a lot of them,” Jones said of the power play. “We talked about that — going into playoffs, there won't be a lot, so you better have some urgency and some attention to detail and be prepared to apply [that].”
Harvard didn’t even opt to pull Charette for the extra skater — the Crimson watched helplessly while time wound down, the Lynah Faithful shaking their car keys and Cornell clearing its bench after securing the win and keeping its ECAC title defense very much alive.
“I thought we were nervous, a little tentative last night, and so we weren't on our toes and weren't hopping,” Jones said. “We're better when we're aggressive and on our toes and skating. I thought that we were a little more fluid in our game tonight.”
Cornell will look to close out the quarterfinal series at 4 p.m. Sunday for a winner-takes-all matchup against Harvard. All action will stream live on ESPN+, and live updates will be provided by @DailySunSports on X.
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.
