Desantis scores twice, leads men's hockey to win Harvard

Ithaca, NY Junior forward Nick Desantis scored twice for the Cornell Men's Hockey team (8-5-5, 5-3-3) as it defeated Bitter Ecac Hockey and Ivy League rival Harvard (6-10-2), 4-2, before a sellout crowd At Lynah Rink on Friday evening.

Sophomore student Jake And Ryan Walsh Pot the first two goals for the Big Red, scoring six seconds apart in the first 1:23 of play to take an early 2-0 lead.

Senior goalkeeper Ian Shane made 14 saves between the pipes for Cornell, which improved to 6-1-1 at Lynah Rink this season.

Harvard's only count of the game came from freshman forward Mick Thompson on an odd-man count with his linemate Joe Miller. Sophomore goaltender Aku Koskenvuo made 20 saves in the setback for the Crimson.

“A really strong start in the first period,” said Mike Schafer '86the Jay R. Bloom '77 head coach of Cornell men's ice hockey, following his 550th career head coaching victory. “Secondly we had a little dive at one point and had to kill a number of penalties. I'm really happy with our penalty kill. They did a great job tonight and I thought Ian was excellent. He scored two or three spectacular saves.”

Cornell opened the scoring 1:17 into the game when Kraft capitalized on an initial shot on the rebound and poked the puck past Koskenvuo at the right post. Walsh forced a defensive zone turnover by Harvard freshman defenseman Lucas St. Louis at the far half wall, ultimately leading to Kraft's count.

On the ensuing faceoff, Walsh won the draw to his right, allowing second-year defenseman George Fegaras To chip the puck into the attacking zone in the center line. Junior forward Dalton Bancroft Picked up the puck at the blue line and set up a pass from the far half wall to Walsh in the middle of the slot for a one-timer that beat Koskenvuo, giving the Big Red a two-goal advantage 1:23 into the game got.

In the second period, Desantis increased Cornell's lead to 3-0, drilling a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle on a strange man rush five seconds after the expiration of a Crimson penalty.

Harvard cut into the Big Red's lead late in the second period when Miller curled a pass around the senior defender Tim Regowho was sensitive on the ice, during a 2-on-1 strange rush, which resulted in Thompson timing the puck into the net.

Five minutes into the third period, Cornell regained its three-goal lead when Desantis knocked back his rebound three seconds into the Big Red's third power play of the night.

A late penalty in the third period prompted Harvard to pull its goaltender to create a 6-on-4 chance with four minutes left in the game. The Big Red held the Crimson without a shot attempt on the power play and surrendered just one shot on goal over Harvard's three power play opportunities.

Postgame interviews with Nick Desantis and Mike Schafer '86
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8p-5hacstxg

Game notes

Friday marked the 168th meeting between the Ivy League rivals, as Cornell improved its record over Harvard to 83-71-14 while extending its unbeaten streak against the Crimson to five games (4-0-1).

The six-second interval between Kraft and Walsh's goals is tied for the third-fastest time between goals in program history, with a pair of five-goal splits occurring on March 5, 1960, vs. Colgate and February 14, 2020, vs. Union.

Fastest two goals scored
Cornell program history

T1. 0:05, March 5, 1960, vs. Colgate (Morgan Holmes 1:48 & Gerald Borofsky 1:53) 1st period
T1. 0:05, February 14, 2020, vs. Union (Morgan Barron 19:36 & Jack Malone 19:41) 3rd period – both goals with empty nets
T3. 0:06, March 9, 1971, vs. Providence (Jim Higgs 8:11 & Brian McCutcheon 8:17) 2nd period
T3. 0:06, January. 24, 2025, Vs. Harvard (Jake 1:17; Ryan Walsh 1:23) 1st period

Cornell's two goals in the opening 1:23 is the fifth-fastest set of goals to start a game in program history, with Pete Tufford's two goals in the first 36 seconds against Guelph (November 23, 1968), Trent Andison and Bruce Frauley Scoring in the First 1:11 vs. Colgate (March 2, 1991), Dalton Bancroft And Ondrej Psenicka Team up to score in the opening 1:14 of the Big Red's Frozen Apple game with UConn (Nov. 26, 2022) and Murray Stephen scored twice in the first 1:20 against Waterloo (Nov. 21, 1964).

Fastest two goals to start the game
Cornell program history

1. 0:36, November 23, 1968, vs. Guelph (Pete Tufford – twice)
2. 1:11, March 2, 1991, at Colgate (Trent andison & Bruce Frauley)
3. 1:14, November 26, 2022, vs. UConn (Dalton Bancroft & Ondrej Psenicka))
4. 1:20, November 21, 1964, vs. Waterloo (Murray Stephen – Twice)
5. 1:23, January. 25, 2025, Vs. Harvard (Jake & Ryan Walsh))

The six-second span between goals beat the previous record for the fastest two goals scored by Cornell against the Crimson, which came in nine seconds on February 21, 1979, also on Lynah Rink (Brian Marrett – 12:32 into 1st period ; Doug Berk – 12:41 in 1st period). The two goals in the opening 1:23 were the fastest goals to start a game against Harvard in program history, with Doug Derraugh and Ross Lemon's goals coming in the opening 2:02 of a game at Lynah Rink on March 3 1990.

Walsh's game-winning goal at the 1:23 mark of the first period was the sixth-anvery game-winning goal of the score in the Mike Schafer '86 ERA, trailing game winners Dalton Bancroft (0:32, vs. UConn, Nov 26, 2022), Michael Kennedy (0:37, on RPI, Jan 17, 2009), Taylor Davenport (0:42, vs. Union, Dec 2, 2006),, Sullivan Mack (0:46, in Princeton, February 26, 2022), and Brenden Locke (1:21, vs. Union, March 16, 2019).

Fastest game-winning goals scored
Mike Schafer '86 ERA (since 1995-96)

1. 0:32, Dalton Bancroftvs. UConn (November 26, 2022)
2. 0:37, Michael Kennedy, on RPI, January 17, 2009
3. 0:42, Taylor Davenport, vs. Union, December 2, 2006
4. 0:46, Sullivan Mackat Princeton, February 26, 2022
5. 1:21, Brenden Locke, vs. Union, March 16, 2019
6. 1:23, Ryan Walshvs. Harvard, January. 25, 2025

Cornell's five-game undefeated streak against Harvard (4-0-1) is the longest undefeated streak against the Crimson since going 3-0-2 over a five-game stretch between February 16, 2013 and January 23, 2015. It is tied for the sixth-longest undefeated streak against the Crimson in Program History, with a 13-game win streak (December 20, 1966-March 3, 1971) and undefeated streaks of 10 games (9-0-1 Nov. 11, 1995 Nov. 13, 1998), nine games (Feb. 11, 1976 Feb. 21, 1979), and a pair of six-game spans (5-0-1-4 Feb. 2000 Mar. 16, 2001; 6-0-0 November 22, 2002 November 5, 2004).

Longest U.S. Undefeated Streaks Harvard
Program history

13 games (13-0-0) December 20, 1966 March 3, 1971
10 games (9-0-1) Nov. Nov 11, 1995 13, 1998
9 games (8-0-1) February 11, 1976 February 21, 1979
6 games (5-0-1) February 4, 2000 March 16, 2001
6 games (6-0-0) Nov. Nov 22, 2002 5, 2004
5 games (5-0-0) Nov. January 7, 2009. 29, 2011
5 games (3-0-2) February 16, 2013 January 23, 2015
5 games (4-0-1) January 26, 2024 present

Cornell's three-goal victory marked its third straight victory against Harvard at Lynah Rink, the first time the Big Red has won three consecutive games against the Crimson since posting a four-game win streak between November 21, 2008 and March 13, 2010. IT. is the fifth-longest win streak against Harvard in program history, with a nine-game streak (February 17, 1965, February 17, 1973), a six-game stretch (February 11, 1976, February 28, 1981), and a pair of four-game spans (February 1 2002 November 5, 2004; November 21, 2008 March 13, 2010).

Longest Home Win Streaks Vs. Harvard
Program history

9 games February 17, 1965 February 17, 1973
6 Games February 11, 1976 February 28, 1981
4 games February 1, 2002 November 5, 2004
4 games November 21, 2008 March 13, 2010
3 matches available March 15, 2024

Senior Captain Kyle Penney returned to the line-up after missing the last nine games and registered one shot on target in two attempts.

Next

Cornell returns to the ice at Lynah Rink on Saturday, Jan. 25, where it will battle Dartmouth (10-7-2, 7-4-1 ECAC hockey), who currently sit in fourth place in the ECAC hockey standings.

The Big Green is coming off a 3-2 loss to Colgate at the Class of 1965 Arena in Hamilton. Luke Haymes and CJ Foley solved the goals for Dartmouth.

Puck Drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. and Game Action will air on ESPN+ and across the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, Cortacatoday.com).

Coming into Saturday's game, Cornell is undefeated in eight of its last nine games against Dartmouth (5-1-3) and is 4-0-2 over its last six games against the Big Green at Lynah Rink.

Matches between the programs have been close, with nine of the last 10, 10 of the previous 12 and 23 of the previous 34 games having been decided by one goal or less.