The Sad Thread: Worst Losses in Cornell History

Hitherto the list of Landmark Games on TBRW has included only wins. I'm interested in adding a few historically significant losses. My initial list of candidates:

3/16/73 (NCAA SF collapse vs Wisconsin)

3/01/77 (9-10 ot ECAC SF loss to UNH)

3/07/78 (shocking QF Lynah loss to Providence)

4/10/03 (NCAA SF loss to UNH)

3/27/05 (ot NCAA QF loss to Minnesota)

3/26/06 (3ot NCAA QF loss to Wisconsin)


Have I (blissfully) forgotten any of particular psychological damage?

I am also going to add "the tie," 12/30/66 against BU in what may have been a battle of unbeatens (have to research it further).

you're missing a big one. this one was really rough, 2ot:

[www.tbrw.info]

I heard something about a game in New Haven one time, but I'm pretty sure that was just a rumor....

(naturally, as a RS game, it doesn't hold a candle to the significance of any of the other losses you have, but the fact that it popped into my head does at least prove that it was memorable)

Robb
I heard something about a game in New Haven one time, but I'm pretty sure that was just a rumor....

I thought about that one as well, but I had the impression Greg was aiming more for games that were particularly devastating to lose, that we had a real chance at winning, that were surprising losses, etc. If you go for blowout losses like the imaginary New Haven incident, frankly the list would have to get much longer.

Sticking closer to what I surmise is Greg's theme, I would add the 2004 and 2007 home QF losses to Clarkson and Quinnipiac respectively, though those weren't individual games.

pfibiger
you're missing a big one. this one was really rough, 2ot:

[www.tbrw.info]

Yeah. That was horrible. I should also include the first NCAA F loss because, well hell, it's an NCAA F.

Beeeej

Robb
I heard something about a game in New Haven one time, but I'm pretty sure that was just a rumor....

I thought about that one as well, but I had the impression Greg was aiming more for games that were particularly devastating to lose, that we had a real chance at winning, that were surprising losses, etc. If you go for blowout losses like the imaginary New Haven incident, frankly the list would have to get much longer.

Sticking closer to what I surmise is Greg's theme, I would add the 2004 and 2007 home QF losses to Clarkson and Quinnipiac respectively, though those weren't individual games.

Personally I went into the Q games assuming we were going to lose. That season just had bad mojo all over it.

The 26-goals given up to BC is a fun game to add as The representative of a rout loss. It was in the 40's sometime -- I believe I have the box already.

The roughest Lynah rout loss I ever saw was the 11-3 '86 loss to Harvard where Schafer absolutely did not try to peg Cleary on the bench and if he did, well, these things happen. That game was 2 hours of "I can't believe this is happening."

Trotsky
Hitherto the list of Landmark Games on TBRW has included only wins. I'm interested in adding a few historically significant losses. My initial list of candidates:

3/16/73 (NCAA SF collapse vs Wisconsin)

3/01/77 (9-10 ot ECAC SF loss to UNH)

3/07/78 (shocking QF Lynah loss to Providence)

4/10/03 (NCAA SF loss to UNH)

3/27/05 (ot NCAA QF loss to Minnesota)

3/26/06 (3ot NCAA QF loss to Wisconsin)


Have I (blissfully) forgotten any of particular psychological damage?

I am also going to add "the tie," 12/30/66 against BU in what may have been a battle of unbeatens (have to research it further).

BU was 12-0; Cornell 11-0. Ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the country at game time. BU was the established power; Cornell, the upstart.

It was a month or so after Michigan State and Notre Dame, both also unbeaten, played an infamous tie (before there were football tie-breakers) in the game billed to determine the national college football championship. ND coach Ara Parseghian chose to go for a late field goal to get the tie rather than risk losing by going for a touchdown, figuring Notre Dame would be voted #1 in the polls on reputation [and so they were]. The press before the Cornell-BU game noted that in hockey it would be different...there would be no tie; they'd play overtime until someone won...so there'd be an undisputed #1 after the game.

So much for that theory.

[Edit: Interesting sidelight - Giles Threadgold and Bill Cleary were the referees.]

Al DeFlorio
BU was 12-0; Cornell 11-0. Ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the country at game time. BU was the established power; Cornell, the upstart.

I have heard that this was the game when "Screw BU" started. Is that true or just retconned apocraphra?

Though it must have started sometime...

It's funny, I had always thought of that game being at MSG as part of the ECAC Holiday Tournament, but it was at Boston Garden (or perhaps Matthews Arena) in the Boston Tourney.

Trotsky

Al DeFlorio
BU was 12-0; Cornell 11-0. Ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the country at game time. BU was the established power; Cornell, the upstart.

I have heard that this was the game when "Screw BU" started. Is that true or just retconned apocraphra?

Though it must have started sometime...

I'm pretty sure it started later...probably after the tide turned in the Cornell-BU rivalry.

There's a great write-up on the game on this Terrier Hockey Fan Blog. Be sure to read the comments.

[terrierhockey2.blogspot.com]

Al DeFlorio

Trotsky

Al DeFlorio
BU was 12-0; Cornell 11-0. Ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the country at game time. BU was the established power; Cornell, the upstart.

I have heard that this was the game when "Screw BU" started. Is that true or just retconned apocraphra?

Though it must have started sometime...

I'm pretty sure it started later...probably after the tide turned in the Cornell-BU rivalry.

There's a great write-up on the game on this Terrier Hockey Fan Blog. Be sure to read the comments.

[terrierhockey2.blogspot.com]

That's great. Here's another BU site with the same article but also info on some other BU-Cornell games.

Al DeFlorio

Trotsky

Al DeFlorio
BU was 12-0; Cornell 11-0. Ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the country at game time. BU was the established power; Cornell, the upstart.

I have heard that this was the game when "Screw BU" started. Is that true or just retconned apocraphra?

Though it must have started sometime...

I'm pretty sure it started later...probably after the tide turned in the Cornell-BU rivalry.

There's a great write-up on the game on this Terrier Hockey Fan Blog. Be sure to read the comments.

[terrierhockey2.blogspot.com]

It was before my time, and I can't seem to recall any specifics, but it seems that I remember that it had to do with some off-ice shenanigans to BU's benefit during an ECAC tournament (seeding? game times? etc?), so pretty much everyone in the building was peeved with them, so we started that cheer during our game with someone else...

Great story, huh?

A couple of games that aren't exactly "losses", but which rank among the most painful games ever:

12/13/72 9-0 beating at the hands of BU at Lynah (that later was awarded to Cornell by forfeit for BU's use of an ineligible player, but which Cornell still considers a loss)
1/4/85 10-10 tie vs. McGill in Montreal; while not a loss, probably one of the ugliest games in Cornell history

ACM
1/4/85 10-10 tie vs. McGill in Montreal; while not a loss, probably one of the ugliest games in Cornell history

IINM, Reycroft had benched several players for this game for ahem indiscretions. I can't imagine what bad behavior one could possibly get up to in Quebec...

The boxscore, in all its glory.

I have no recollection at all of Vance Henson. Was Pat Heaphy the Architecture student who used to look exhausted even in pregame warm-ups? Whoever that guy was he didn't sleep in four years.

Robb
I heard something about a game in New Haven one time, but I'm pretty sure that was just a rumor....

(naturally, as a RS game, it doesn't hold a candle to the significance of any of the other losses you have, but the fact that it popped into my head does at least prove that it was memorable)

That game (which never happened) is the one that came to my mind too.

Trotsky
Was Pat Heaphy the Architecture student who used to look exhausted even in pregame warm-ups? Whoever that guy was he didn't sleep in four years.

Sounds like you're thinking of Keith Howie.

Beeeej

Robb
I heard something about a game in New Haven one time, but I'm pretty sure that was just a rumor....

I thought about that one as well, but I had the impression Greg was aiming more for games that were particularly devastating to lose, that we had a real chance at winning, that were surprising losses, etc.

In that case, I would add the loss to Bemidji in Grand Rapids a few years ago.

1/9/67 loss to Yale. The only loss that year.
2/2/72 loss to Clarkson. Ending a 63 game home winning streak.

I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

But although the title is worst, the description states, "historically significant losses". It certainly fits, as do the 2 I noted. There were not worst, but significant.

By the way, this is a great idea.

Jeff Hopkins '82

Beeeej

Robb
I heard something about a game in New Haven one time, but I'm pretty sure that was just a rumor....

I thought about that one as well, but I had the impression Greg was aiming more for games that were particularly devastating to lose, that we had a real chance at winning, that were surprising losses, etc.

In that case, I would add the loss to Bemidji in Grand Rapids a few years ago.

Yeah, that one really sticks in my craw.

Jim Hyla
1/9/67 loss to Yale. The only loss that year.
2/2/72 loss to Clarkson. Ending a 63 game home winning streak.

Don't RPI fans also like to celebrate some significant win over us ending some sort of streak in that same ballpark? Our overall (not just home) winning streak in '71, perhaps?

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

I agree now. But immediately after that goal went in was the worst I've ever felt about pretty much any sport/team.

ACM

Trotsky
Was Pat Heaphy the Architecture student who used to look exhausted even in pregame warm-ups? Whoever that guy was he didn't sleep in four years.

Sounds like you're thinking of Keith Howie.

Yep, I am.

Dafatone

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

I agree now. But immediately after that goal went in was the worst I've ever felt about pretty much any sport/team.

Yes, in hindsight, the loss in Grand Rapids to Bemidji was worse than 3OT one to the Badgers. I was at both games and after the Wisconsin game I was drained, but once you get into 2+ OTs, you know that it is going to be a really good shot or a rotten bounce. Yeah it was heartbreaking, sad, disappointing, but our team played really well. As Jordan04 says, Cornell had a really amazing 3rd period rally to beat Colorado College just to earn the right to play Wisconsin in that rink of red.

In Grand Rapids, it seemed our team never got going and let BSU take it to them. That was a FF berth we let get away. That just sucked.

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

My thread title "worst" is inaccurate. As pointed out by someone else, I'm trying to capture the landmark games in the program's history, and sometimes those are losses. I agree with you that the 3 ot loss to Wisco, while of course suboptimal that we didn't move on, was oddly one of the team's proudest moments.

Rita
In Grand Rapids, it seemed our team never got going and let BSU take it to them. That was a FF berth we let get away. That just sucked.

I'm not emotionally evolved enough to put the Bemidji loss on a list of landmark games. It really, really sucked. IIRC from his comments in The Game, Dryden felt that way about the 1969 NCAA final. As great as Denver was, Dryden still felt Cornell kicked away a title there.

Dafatone

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

I agree now. But immediately after that goal went in was the worst I've ever felt about pretty much any sport/team.

I felt the same way until the lacrosse final against Syracuse.

Trotsky

Al DeFlorio
BU was 12-0; Cornell 11-0. Ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the country at game time. BU was the established power; Cornell, the upstart.

I have heard that this was the game when "Screw BU" started. Is that true or just retconned apocraphra?

Though it must have started sometime...

It's funny, I had always thought of that game being at MSG as part of the ECAC Holiday Tournament, but it was at Boston Garden (or perhaps Matthews Arena) in the Boston Tourney.

I think "Screw BU" started at the NCAAs in 1972. We'd lost to BU 4-1 in the ECAC championship game in Boston, enduring their damn jingle many-a-time. Then we came back to Boston Garden for the nationals. BU had this "pep band" with horns, electric guitar, full drum set, etc., and every time they started up their little ditty, the Big Red fans (maybe 3,000 out of the 15,000 in attendance) graced them with a loud "Screw BU!". We were in good voice early, perhaps outdoing the BU fans, but as the game wore on and we fell behind, I have to admit that the Gah-den rocked to "Go BU!"

Trotsky
My thread title "worst" is inaccurate. As pointed out by someone else, I'm trying to capture the landmark games in the program's history, and sometimes those are losses.

Maybe it's just "significant losses."

Robb

Jim Hyla
1/9/67 loss to Yale. The only loss that year.
2/2/72 loss to Clarkson. Ending a 63 game home winning streak.

Don't RPI fans also like to celebrate some significant win over us ending some sort of streak in that same ballpark? Our overall (not just home) winning streak in '71, perhaps?

This RPI fan regards 12/4/68 as more significant than 12/1/70 because it convinced the RPI Admin to keep the team at the D-I level. That, of course, has little bearing to Cornell.

ACM
A couple of games that aren't exactly "losses", but which rank among the most painful games ever:

12/13/72 9-0 beating at the hands of BU at Lynah (that later was awarded to Cornell by forfeit for BU's use of an ineligible player, but which Cornell still considers a loss)
1/4/85 10-10 tie vs. McGill in Montreal; while not a loss, probably one of the ugliest games in Cornell history

That was a horrible calendar year:
* Winter-spring 1972 the end of the seemingly forever (63 games) unbeaten streak at home, to Clarkson.
* Then March 1972 losing the NCAA championship to a BU team we had beaten in the regular season. Nobody knew it would be the last trip to an NCAA hockey title game to date.
* And fall 1972 that 9-0 loss at Lynah to BU.

The following spring was the most disheartening loss, any sport: Being up 5-2 vs. Wisconsin in the NCAA semis and losing 6-5 in OT. Cornell-Syracuse lacrosse 2009 probably tied or surpassed the heatbreak level since that was a title game.

All this makes me think: When it comes to chokes - sorry, to losing close games in huge contests - do we have more games where we were favored (or were ahead) and lost, or where the other team was the one that folded its tents. The 1987 and 1988 (?) lax teams were largely unregarded and made the title games ... Viginia was a favorite in the NCAA semis in 2009 ... probably the basketball team's first two wins in the NCAAs in 2009 were upsets at least to the seeding committee.

You were there, too, in 1972? Yes, the Cornell band rocked the joint. On the ice, this was the rubber match in the CU-BU season: a 3-2 RS win for us at Lynah, the ECAC title loss in the Garden the previous week, and then this game. We didn't just fall behind, we got dominated, eventually losing 4-0. The combination of this loss and the heartbreaker OT loss to Wisconsin the following spring in the NCAA semis soured some fans on the then-young, new coach, Dick Bertrand, and that can't-win-the-big-game aura hung over him, for better or worse, until he moved on.

There are many what-ifs and one of the biggest ones is: What if a career counselor or Myers-Briggs guru told Ned in spring 1970 that he was in no way suited to be a pro hockey coach and if someone had endowed the Cornell coaching position that year so the money was really good, if the then-48-year-old Harkness could have been our Pete Caril and coached until the mid 1980s.

Killer

Trotsky

Al DeFlorio
BU was 12-0; Cornell 11-0. Ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the country at game time. BU was the established power; Cornell, the upstart.

I have heard that this was the game when "Screw BU" started. Is that true or just retconned apocraphra?

Though it must have started sometime...

It's funny, I had always thought of that game being at MSG as part of the ECAC Holiday Tournament, but it was at Boston Garden (or perhaps Matthews Arena) in the Boston Tourney.

I think "Screw BU" started at the NCAAs in 1972. We'd lost to BU 4-1 in the ECAC championship game in Boston, enduring their damn jingle many-a-time. Then we came back to Boston Garden for the nationals. BU had this "pep band" with horns, electric guitar, full drum set, etc., and every time they started up their little ditty, the Big Red fans (maybe 3,000 out of the 15,000 in attendance) graced them with a loud "Screw BU!". We were in good voice early, perhaps outdoing the BU fans, but as the game wore on and we fell behind, I have to admit that the Gah-den rocked to "Go BU!"

I think Killer's right. By then the tide hadturned in the rivalry (Ned never lost to BU while at Cornell)...and that jingle was damn annoying.

[Greg, that 1966 game was at the then Boston Arena, where both BU and Northeastern played home games. It was also the site for the first few ECAC championship tournaments, before the move to the never-to-be-forgotten Garden.]

nyc94

Dafatone

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

I agree now. But immediately after that goal went in was the worst I've ever felt about pretty much any sport/team.

I felt the same way until the lacrosse final against Syracuse.

Now that is a "worst" loss.

If it's "historic," one could consider that Union's first ECAC league win came at Lynah (2/22/1992), and Sacred Heart got the first win for a MAAC team (pre-CHA) over a "Big 4" conference, also at Lynah. (11/4/2000)

The 9-0 loss to BU at Lynah, mentioned above, was truly a disaster. I think it broke a very long home unbeaten streak for Cornell-- I was then a junior, had attened every game and had never seen us lose at home. I believe the prior home loss had been to Yale-- a game also mentioned above in this thread as our only regular season loss that year, to which Cornell responded by beating Yale 18-1 in New Haven at their next meeting.

I was also at the 5-4 loss to Wisconsin in Boston when we had been ahead 4-0; that was quite painful, but beating slaughtered by BU in Lynah was just bizarre. I remember reading somewhere that when the score came over the wire at least one editor called to make sure it wasn't a misprint.

Jordan 04

nyc94

Dafatone

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

I agree now. But immediately after that goal went in was the worst I've ever felt about pretty much any sport/team.

Now that is a "worst" loss.

I felt the same way until the lacrosse final against Syracuse.

Amen! I was at that game. 25 Seconds. You have to hand it to Syracuse though, they never quit and played like champions.

Jordan 04

nyc94

Dafatone

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

I agree now. But immediately after that goal went in was the worst I've ever felt about pretty much any sport/team.

I felt the same way until the lacrosse final against Syracuse.

Now that is a "worst" loss.

Ugh, tell me about it. Plus the NCAA uses clips from the end of that game in a lot of their multi-sport TV promos. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE.

hypotenuse
The 9-0 loss to BU at Lynah, mentioned above, was truly a disaster. I think it broke a very long home unbeaten streak for Cornell-- I was then a junior, had attened every game and had never seen us lose at home. I believe the prior home loss had been to Yale-- a game also mentioned above in this thread as our only regular season loss that year, to which Cornell responded by beating Yale 18-1 in New Haven at their next meeting.

I was also at the 5-4 loss to Wisconsin in Boston when we had been ahead 4-0; that was quite painful, but beating slaughtered by BU in Lynah was just bizarre. I remember reading somewhere that when the score came over the wire at least one editor called to make sure it wasn't a misprint.

The payback at Yale was 19-1. The game at Penn seven days before was 18-1. In between: A 3-2 win at BU. The catastrophic Wisconsin loss in 1973 was 6-5 in OT.

billhoward
There are many what-ifs and one of the biggest ones is: What if a career counselor or Myers-Briggs guru told Ned in spring 1970 that he was in no way suited to be a pro hockey coach and if someone had endowed the Cornell coaching position that year so the money was really good, if the then-48-year-old Harkness could have been our Pete Caril and coached until the mid 1980s.

We might have won 2 or 3 more NCAA titles.

We might have spent most of the 70's on probation.

Al DeFlorio

Killer

Trotsky

Al DeFlorio
BU was 12-0; Cornell 11-0. Ranked #1 and #2, respectively, in the country at game time. BU was the established power; Cornell, the upstart.

I have heard that this was the game when "Screw BU" started. Is that true or just retconned apocraphra?

Though it must have started sometime...

It's funny, I had always thought of that game being at MSG as part of the ECAC Holiday Tournament, but it was at Boston Garden (or perhaps Matthews Arena) in the Boston Tourney.

I think "Screw BU" started at the NCAAs in 1972. We'd lost to BU 4-1 in the ECAC championship game in Boston, enduring their damn jingle many-a-time. Then we came back to Boston Garden for the nationals. BU had this "pep band" with horns, electric guitar, full drum set, etc., and every time they started up their little ditty, the Big Red fans (maybe 3,000 out of the 15,000 in attendance) graced them with a loud "Screw BU!". We were in good voice early, perhaps outdoing the BU fans, but as the game wore on and we fell behind, I have to admit that the Gah-den rocked to "Go BU!"

I think Killer's right. By then the tide hadturned in the rivalry (Ned never lost to BU while at Cornell)...and that jingle was damn annoying.

[Greg, that 1966 game was at the then Boston Arena, where both BU and Northeastern played home games. It was also the site for the first few ECAC championship tournaments, before the move to the never-to-be-forgotten Garden.]

1967 was the first year in "da gaden". One thing that I'll always remember about the 66, last Arena game, was that we didn't have our band there and after Brown lost to Clarkson some of the Brown band came over to our side and played some for Cornell. I never forgot that, obviously, and still have a soft spot for Brown because of it.

hypotenuse
The 9-0 loss to BU at Lynah, mentioned above, was truly a disaster. I think it broke a very long home unbeaten streak for Cornell-- I was then a junior, had attened every game and had never seen us lose at home. I believe the prior home loss had been to Yale-- a game also mentioned above in this thread as our only regular season loss that year, to which Cornell responded by beating Yale 18-1 in New Haven at their next meeting.

I was also at the 5-4 loss to Wisconsin in Boston when we had been ahead 4-0; that was quite painful, but beating slaughtered by BU in Lynah was just bizarre. I remember reading somewhere that when the score came over the wire at least one editor called to make sure it wasn't a misprint.

IIRC, the basketball team was beaten even worse over in the Barton Hall that night. Those years made me think a sober coach and a .500 season was the most we could hope for on the hoops side. I still cannot believe I was sitting last spring at a Sweet Sixteen game where Cornell was playing, and we lasted longer in the tournament than Syracuse. About 2-1/2 hours. Heh. I wonder if we could have with different bracketing taken down Butler?

billhoward
I wonder if we could have with different bracketing taken down Butler?

I'd've been happier playing Duke than Kentucky.

RichH
If it's "historic," one could consider that Union's first ECAC league win came at Lynah (2/22/1992), and Sacred Heart got the first win for a MAAC team (pre-CHA) over a "Big 4" conference, also at Lynah. (11/4/2000)

I'd agree, if the Sacred Heart game actually happened.

hypotenuse
The 9-0 loss to BU at Lynah, mentioned above, was truly a disaster. I think it broke a very long home unbeaten streak for Cornell-- I was then a junior, had attened every game and had never seen us lose at home. I believe the prior home loss had been to Yale-- a game also mentioned above in this thread as our only regular season loss that year, to which Cornell responded by beating Yale 18-1 in New Haven at their next meeting.

I was also at the 5-4 loss to Wisconsin in Boston when we had been ahead 4-0; that was quite painful, but beating slaughtered by BU in Lynah was just bizarre. I remember reading somewhere that when the score came over the wire at least one editor called to make sure it wasn't a misprint.

Cornell lost to Yale at Lynah in January of 1967. It didn't lose again at Lynah until a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Clarkson in February of 1972. The BU loss came in December of 1972, so the 63-game home-ice winning streak had already been broken.

The classes of '67, '68, '69 and '70 experienced the loss to Yale. The classes of '72, '73, '74 and '75 experienced the loss to Clarkson. The only class to go through four years at Cornell and never see the team lose at home was the class of 1971.

My class.

Josh '99

Jordan 04

nyc94

Dafatone

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

I agree now. But immediately after that goal went in was the worst I've ever felt about pretty much any sport/team.

I felt the same way until the lacrosse final against Syracuse.

Now that is a "worst" loss.

Ugh, tell me about it. Plus the NCAA uses clips from the end of that game in a lot of their multi-sport TV promos. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE.

Easily the most painful defeat I've experienced on any level. Adding to the misery was the ridiculous traffic jam getting out of the stadium; I think it took at least 90 minutes to go a mile.

Robb

Jim Hyla
1/9/67 loss to Yale. The only loss that year.
2/2/72 loss to Clarkson. Ending a 63 game home winning streak.

Don't RPI fans also like to celebrate some significant win over us ending some sort of streak in that same ballpark? Our overall (not just home) winning streak in '71, perhaps?

The late Bob Stagat used to talk about a signed hockey stick he got from the RPI players (many of whom he had tutored shortly before), the stick that scored the winning goal.

RichH
If it's "historic," one could consider that Union's first ECAC league win came at Lynah (2/22/1992), and Sacred Heart got the first win for a MAAC team (pre-CHA) over a "Big 4" conference, also at Lynah. (11/4/2000)

The Union loss was dreadful, but thank goodness it was not their first ECAC win. They had won at Dartmouth a month earlier.

I already had a business trip to DC during the Frozen Four a couple of years ago and so our loss to Bemidji is the saddest for me.

I went to the FF anyway and sort of had a good time but it just wasn't the same.

Trotsky
Hitherto the list of Landmark Games on TBRW has included only wins. I'm interested in adding a few historically significant losses. My initial list of candidates:

3/16/73 (NCAA SF collapse vs Wisconsin)

3/01/77 (9-10 ot ECAC SF loss to UNH)

3/07/78 (shocking QF Lynah loss to Providence)

4/10/03 (NCAA SF loss to UNH)

3/27/05 (ot NCAA QF loss to Minnesota)

3/26/06 (3ot NCAA QF loss to Wisconsin)


Have I (blissfully) forgotten any of particular psychological damage?

I am also going to add "the tie," 12/30/66 against BU in what may have been a battle of unbeatens (have to research it further).

No you haven't forgotten the psychological damage, just continuing to inflict it on someone who was at 5 of the 6 games above. And for the one I missed, 3/7/78, the only year in a long span that we didn't make it to the Gahden, I was living in southern NH at the time and already had tickets to the weekend games and friends planning to drive up from NYC to see us play.
Actually, for '05 and '06, expectations weren't that high, and I left those weekends very proud of the team rather than being very depressed. I'm always proud of our team and always depressed when we lose, but the depression, for me, was greatest in '73. I'm still upset about the "no goal" in '03 however.

jtwcornell91

Robb

Jim Hyla
1/9/67 loss to Yale. The only loss that year.
2/2/72 loss to Clarkson. Ending a 63 game home winning streak.

Don't RPI fans also like to celebrate some significant win over us ending some sort of streak in that same ballpark? Our overall (not just home) winning streak in '71, perhaps?

The late Bob Stagat used to talk about a signed hockey stick he got from the RPI players (many of whom he had tutored shortly before), the stick that scored the winning goal.

That was the game in the 68-69 season.

OK, this one's not as historically significant as some of the others that have been listed, but I can still remember how hideously significant it felt at the time.

February 23, 1991, Vermont over Cornell at Lynah, 7-4. Final game of the 1990-91 ECAC regular season.

The 1990-91 team was the most talented Big Red squad that most of us, at the time, thought we would ever see (13 NHL picks), and although they never put a big run together -- the team would win three or four games and then suffer some inexplicable loss -- they went into the final weekend tied for the top spot in the standings with Clarkson, with an extremely good chance at delivering Cornell's first regular-season crown since 1972. All they needed, as it developed, was one measly point. The Big Red lost a rough-and-tumble game against RPI the night before, but that was OK, because Clarkson lost to Harvard, leaving the teams still tied for first. (Lynah Rink cheering a Harvard win -- it's happened exactly once that I remember, and that was it)

So onto Vermont. Cornell shook off the previous night's loss and played pretty well for the first period, going into intermission with a 3-2 lead. But the team badly missed defenseman Dan Ratushny, out for the weekend with a wrist injury, and totally collapsed the rest of the way, allowing the Catamounts to score four straight. And when Clarkson emerged from their dust-up with Dartmouth with a tie, there went the pursuit of the regular-season title. It would take Cornell 11 more years to get one of those.

Give My Regards
OK, this one's not as historically significant as some of the others that have been listed, but I can still remember how hideously significant it felt at the time.

February 23, 1991, Vermont over Cornell at Lynah, 7-4. Final game of the 1990-91 ECAC regular season.

The 1990-91 team was the most talented Big Red squad that most of us, at the time, thought we would ever see (13 NHL picks), and although they never put a big run together -- the team would win three or four games and then suffer some inexplicable loss -- they went into the final weekend tied for the top spot in the standings with Clarkson, with an extremely good chance at delivering Cornell's first regular-season crown since 1972. All they needed, as it developed, was one measly point. The Big Red lost a rough-and-tumble game against RPI the night before, but that was OK, because Clarkson lost to Harvard, leaving the teams still tied for first. (Lynah Rink cheering a Harvard win -- it's happened exactly once that I remember, and that was it)

So onto Vermont. Cornell shook off the previous night's loss and played pretty well for the first period, going into intermission with a 3-2 lead. But the team badly missed defenseman Dan Ratushny, out for the weekend with a wrist injury, and totally collapsed the rest of the way, allowing the Catamounts to score four straight. And when Clarkson emerged from their dust-up with Dartmouth with a tie, there went the pursuit of the regular-season title. It would take Cornell 11 more years to get one of those.

Very well-recalled, good job. I remember this quite well -- it was a real blow. That team had great potential. This loss and then the tremendously painful SF loss at the Gahden put a damper on that season and that whole vintage of Cornell players (Manderville, Crozier-D'Alessio, Derraugh, Andison, Hughes). Talk about what might have been...

scoop85

Josh '99

Jordan 04

nyc94

Dafatone

Jordan 04
I certainly don't consider the Wisconsin game as one of the "worst losses" in team history. We had to come from behind the previous game against a very talented team to even make the Regional Final, it was a home game for Wisconsin, we and McKee played incredible, and we finally lost on a shot that few, if any, goalies could stop. Was it a heartbreaking loss? Sure. But it was also one of the few losses for a team I root for where I came away thinking "We lost, but that was pretty awesome!"

I agree now. But immediately after that goal went in was the worst I've ever felt about pretty much any sport/team.

I felt the same way until the lacrosse final against Syracuse.

Now that is a "worst" loss.

Ugh, tell me about it. Plus the NCAA uses clips from the end of that game in a lot of their multi-sport TV promos. HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE.

Easily the most painful defeat I've experienced on any level. Adding to the misery was the ridiculous traffic jam getting out of the stadium; I think it took at least 90 minutes to go a mile.

No, I don't think I'll ever get over Macho Grande.

Greg, you might want to add the LSSU game from March 22, 1996. It ended the first resurgent year, but I also think it made the team realize they could compete at the NCAA level. They were hungry from that point on.

That damn crossbar is still ringing in my ear.

Nobody mentioned the 2002 "UHN" game in Worcester. I guess it goes in the "we had 'em where we wanted 'em" category of potential upsets, similar to the 2005 game vs. Minnesota. Not many gave us a great shot against #1 UNH. We were suckered into playing UNH's style in the 1st period (seeing 4 total goals in the first 6 minutes was shocking for that team), and then forced UNH to play Cornell's style for the 2nd & 3rd. Shane Palahicky poked the tying goal in midway through the 3rd, and it felt UNH were the ones chasing...until they got one in off a turnover behind our own net and a misplay by Underhill with a couple minutes left in regulation.

It was more of a gut-punch loss than I ever expected, but it led to a lot of optimism for what was possible the following year.

Trotsky

Give My Regards
OK, this one's not as historically significant as some of the others that have been listed, but I can still remember how hideously significant it felt at the time.

February 23, 1991, Vermont over Cornell at Lynah, 7-4. Final game of the 1990-91 ECAC regular season.

The 1990-91 team was the most talented Big Red squad that most of us, at the time, thought we would ever see (13 NHL picks), and although they never put a big run together -- the team would win three or four games and then suffer some inexplicable loss -- they went into the final weekend tied for the top spot in the standings with Clarkson, with an extremely good chance at delivering Cornell's first regular-season crown since 1972. All they needed, as it developed, was one measly point. The Big Red lost a rough-and-tumble game against RPI the night before, but that was OK, because Clarkson lost to Harvard, leaving the teams still tied for first. (Lynah Rink cheering a Harvard win -- it's happened exactly once that I remember, and that was it)

So onto Vermont. Cornell shook off the previous night's loss and played pretty well for the first period, going into intermission with a 3-2 lead. But the team badly missed defenseman Dan Ratushny, out for the weekend with a wrist injury, and totally collapsed the rest of the way, allowing the Catamounts to score four straight. And when Clarkson emerged from their dust-up with Dartmouth with a tie, there went the pursuit of the regular-season title. It would take Cornell 11 more years to get one of those.

Very well-recalled, good job. I remember this quite well -- it was a real blow. That team had great potential. This loss and then the tremendously painful SF loss at the Gahden put a damper on that season and that whole vintage of Cornell players (Manderville, Crozier-D'Alessio, Derraugh, Andison, Hughes). Talk about what might have been...

I remember this stretch well. My father (RPI '54) came up for the weekend. Losing that game would have been bad enough without sitting next to the only guy in Section B cheering for RPI. The quarterfinals were 10-3 and 8-1 romps over Colgate made memorable by the two drunk Colgate students in the back of section F that tried to start a fight over "Go Start The Bus" on the second night. I bought tickets for Boston but became so debilitated by mono I couldn't go. Good times.

RichH
Nobody mentioned the 2002 "UHN" game in Worcester. I guess it goes in the "we had 'em where we wanted 'em" category of potential upsets, similar to the 2005 game vs. Minnesota. Not many gave us a great shot against #1 UNH...we were suckered into playing UNH's style in the 1st period (seeing 4 total goals in the first 6 minutes was shocking for that team), and then forced UNH to play Cornell's style for the 2nd & 3rd. Shane Palahicky poked the tying goal in midway through, and it felt UNH were the ones chasing...until they got one in off a turnover behind our own net and a misplay by Underhill with a couple minutes left in regulation.

It was more of a gut-punch loss than I ever expected, but it led to a lot of optimism for what was possible the following year.

I can still see that game winner vividly and wonder what might have been that postseason had Schafer continued the goalie platoon into the playoffs. Underhill saw a lot of high pressure minutes playing six games (Yale, Yale, RPI, H(2ot), QU(ok that was a snoozer), UHN) in sixteen days after only playing once a week all year long.


From the "WTF was that?" department, I'd nominate the Princeton game at Lynah a few years back.

Chris '03

RichH
Nobody mentioned the 2002 "UHN" game in Worcester. I guess it goes in the "we had 'em where we wanted 'em" category of potential upsets, similar to the 2005 game vs. Minnesota. Not many gave us a great shot against #1 UNH...we were suckered into playing UNH's style in the 1st period (seeing 4 total goals in the first 6 minutes was shocking for that team), and then forced UNH to play Cornell's style for the 2nd & 3rd. Shane Palahicky poked the tying goal in midway through, and it felt UNH were the ones chasing...until they got one in off a turnover behind our own net and a misplay by Underhill with a couple minutes left in regulation.

It was more of a gut-punch loss than I ever expected, but it led to a lot of optimism for what was possible the following year.

I can still see that game winner vividly and wonder what might have been that postseason had Schafer continued the goalie platoon into the playoffs. Underhill saw a lot of high pressure minutes playing six games (Yale, Yale, RPI, H(2ot), QU(ok that was a snoozer), UHN) in sixteen days after only playing once a week all year long.

speaking of, I wonder what he does with Garman and Iles this year--since it's most likely 2 more years until we are nationally relevant again, by which point Garman will be graduated, it certainly makes sense to get Iles some action in the playoffs.

It may not have been so significant or even heart-breaking, but the almost-comeback at the Gut in 1997 (the Elves' senior year) was pretty epic.

There was also the fish-goal game at Lynah in February 1995, which was the last game of the Harvard losing streak, and is sort of paired in my mind with the win over them that November (in Schafer's first season).

nyc94
I remember this stretch well. My father (RPI '54) came up for the weekend. Losing that game would have been bad enough without sitting next to the only guy in Section B cheering for RPI. The quarterfinals were 10-3 and 8-1 romps over Colgate made memorable by the two drunk Colgate students in the back of section F that tried to start a fight over "Go Start The Bus" on the second night. I bought tickets for Boston but became so debilitated by mono I couldn't go. Good times.

Wasn't one of those glorious romps over Colgate the source of the "We Want Weder" chant?

EDIT: Never mind, I realized that Weder was several years later, in a different romp against Colgate.

Trotsky

pfibiger
you're missing a big one. this one was really rough, 2ot:

[www.tbrw.info]

Yeah. That was horrible.

I'm coming to this thread late, but after reading the initial post my first thought was "where's the 2002 ECAC championship game loss to Harvard?"

Another reason that loss clearly needs to be on the list is just how much sweeter the following year's win over Harvard was because of it.

does brown 2011 count?

jtwcornell91

Robb

Jim Hyla
1/9/67 loss to Yale. The only loss that year.
2/2/72 loss to Clarkson. Ending a 63 game home winning streak.

Don't RPI fans also like to celebrate some significant win over us ending some sort of streak in that same ballpark? Our overall (not just home) winning streak in '71, perhaps?

The late Bob Stagat used to talk about a signed hockey stick he got from the RPI players (many of whom he had tutored shortly before), the stick that scored the winning goal.

Wait, Bob Saget died? Shit, now we're never going to find out how he met his wife.

ACM

hypotenuse
The 9-0 loss to BU at Lynah, mentioned above, was truly a disaster. I think it broke a very long home unbeaten streak for Cornell-- I was then a junior, had attened every game and had never seen us lose at home. I believe the prior home loss had been to Yale-- a game also mentioned above in this thread as our only regular season loss that year, to which Cornell responded by beating Yale 18-1 in New Haven at their next meeting.

I was also at the 5-4 loss to Wisconsin in Boston when we had been ahead 4-0; that was quite painful, but beating slaughtered by BU in Lynah was just bizarre. I remember reading somewhere that when the score came over the wire at least one editor called to make sure it wasn't a misprint.

Cornell lost to Yale at Lynah in January of 1967. It didn't lose again at Lynah until a 4-2 defeat at the hands of Clarkson in February of 1972. The BU loss came in December of 1972, so the 63-game home-ice winning streak had already been broken.

The classes of '67, '68, '69 and '70 experienced the loss to Yale. The classes of '72, '73, '74 and '75 experienced the loss to Clarkson. The only class to go through four years at Cornell and never see the team lose at home was the class of 1971.

My class.

Well now you're just bragging.

jtwcornell91
It may not have been so significant or even heart-breaking, but the almost-comeback at the Gut in 1997 (the Elves' senior year) was pretty epic.

AKA the stick check game, if I'm not mistaken.

Cornell vs. Brown 2.25.2011

Josh '99

jtwcornell91
It may not have been so significant or even heart-breaking, but the almost-comeback at the Gut in 1997 (the Elves' senior year) was pretty epic.

AKA the stick check game, if I'm not mistaken.

IIRC we won the stick check game, because Gilligan said some shit like "well, if they want to win THAT WAY..." Yeah, Mike. By playing by the rules...

Trotsky
IIRC we won the stick check game, because Gilligan said some shit like "well, if they want to win THAT WAY..." Yeah, Mike. By playing by the rules...

No, the Big Red lost that game 7-5, making Gilligan's post-game comments even more bull-crap. He said something about there being a "gentleman's agreement" among coaches that there wouldn't be any stick-checking, since it was well-known that most, if not all, players were using sticks that were measurably illegal. And the complaining went on from there. The Vermont assistant coach went off on even more of a rant; I don't remember exactly what was said, but I do remember that he kept bringing up the whole situation three or four days later. BTW, that was Roger Grillo, who later went on to fail -- I mean, coach -- well, let's be honest, fail -- at Brown.