FIRST THOUGHTS: How No. 9 Men’s Hockey Bounced Back to Keep Its ECAC Title Defense Alive
After a disappointing series opener the night before, No. 9 men’s hockey came to play in game two of the ECAC quarterfinals best-of-three with Harvard.
After a disappointing series opener the night before, No. 9 men’s hockey came to play in game two of the ECAC quarterfinals best-of-three with Harvard.
While there are plenty of stories about the Harvard-Cornell rivalry, here’s a look at some of the numbers that define this weekend's playoff matchup between the two teams.
Cornell men's hockey beat reporter Jane McNally shares her answers to reader mailbag questions.
“It comes down to really establishing your role and buying into it and believing in it whatever that may be, whether you’re [on the] first line or in the stands every night,” O’Brien said. “If you can master your role, then you actually do contribute to the team every day.”
“We've had ups and downs a little bit. We've had lessons that we've learned along the way. They've responded to everything so far. That's playoff hockey, right there.”
“Most times when you see teams score after a 0-0 tie after the first period, some teams kind of back off, but I think that we handled it the right way.”
“It's a big weekend for us,” said senior defenseman Jack O’Brien. “If you look at our past eight games, on the road, it's been a grind. It's a big momentum weekend leading into the playoffs. So if we can get both wins, it'll be huge.”
“We’re just reaping the benefits,” said head coach Casey Jones ’90. “We’re reaping the benefits of two juniors being really, really good.”
Cornell surrendered far too many high-danger, numbers-up chances to the Tigers, who secured their first regulation win over Cornell since Jan. 21, 2022.
“We had no passengers tonight,” said head coach Casey Jones '90. “I thought it was as complete a game as we’ve played."
“It's hard to win hockey games this time of year — that's a lesson we learned last week, and that's a lesson well-learned.”
The pair of titles brings the total to 45 earned between the two programs, dating back to 1966. This year marks the eighth time both the men and women have won the championship in the same year.
“The issue, I thought, for a large part of [both] games, was that we were heavily outshooting in shot attempts, but we were missing the net on a ton of our scoring chances.”
"You're gonna have some times where it doesn't go in for you. We got to stay in the course.”
“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.”
"In college hockey, it's one-and-done normally at this time of the year, and you certainly can't lose a game because of discipline.”
Overcoming an early deficit on the road? Now that’s something Cornell has done twice. Consecutively.