NCAAs quarterfinal Cornell vs. BU

[stereax]

Ahh, back to crying again after that article. Man. What a team.

[Snowball]

Here's Schafer's Letter for any of you who don't receive it:

CORNELL 4, Michigan State 3
Boston U 3, CORNELL 2 OT

It had to happen eventually, but it would have been great to finish up one's career in the Frozen Four finals.  Coming off the ECAC championship, I couldn't have been happier with how hard our guys played.

The win over Michigan State was one for the books. To keep coming back against the top ranked team in the country in the rink where it was like a home game for them was classic Cornell hockey.

Michigan State opened the scoring at 7:20 into the game.  All season long, the Spartans put a lot of shots on goal from everywhere, and their first period goal snapped our six-game streak of scoring first.  For the game, they outshot us, 37-21.

At 15:02, sophomore forward Ryan Walsh picked the pocket of s Michigan State player, and quickly beat the Spartan goaltender to make it 1-1.  With 49 seconds remaining, we were assessed a penalty, and it took the Spartans just 20 seconds to regain the lead at 2-1.

We had a tough second period, and didn't have a shot on goal until halftime through the period, and finished with just four shots total for the middle stanza.  But all was not lost. At 16:30, sophomore forward Charlie Major showed his marksmanship with a one-timer that dented the back of the net. Seventeen seconds later, senior goaltender Ian Shane turned the puck over, and Michigan State led, 3-2. For the season, the Spartans were 18-0-2 when leading after two periods of play.

In the third period, we were just a team that would not be denied. At 12:38, sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson sent a shot on goal that resulted in a rebound. Walsh, standing on the doorstep, tied the game for the third time with his conversion tally. Ryan has been a tremendous player for us all season long.  He's also tremendous on faceoffs against the best in the country. I think we gave the boys a wakeup call going into that third period, as we outshot Michigan State, 12-7.

With 1:39 remaining, we were awarded our only power-play opportunity on the night, as speedy senior forward Jack O'Leary was pulled down from behind on his way to the net. We really put the pressure on, and with 20 seconds left, Major and senior forward Sullivan Mack exchanged passes about eight feet in front of the net. On the last exchange, Mack fired the puck into the net for the 4-3 win with 10 seconds remaining.

Shane played well in goal with 34 saves, and the Spartan's netminder stopped 17 shots. Both teams were 1-for-1 on the power play.

The next day was a day off before we were to faceoff against Boston University.  Thank goodness we didn't have to play as the flu bug ran through our team. If we had to play, we would have been missing five players.  I just can't believe how well this team has played, coming off so many injuries and sickness.

On to the BU game. We took a 1-0 lead at 7:35 into the game, with Walsh doing the honors once again. Junior forward Dalton Bancroft's initial shot was blocked, but the rebound hit Walsh and bounced back into the net. It was originally called a no-goal, citing a hand pass, but we challenged the call and were successful. It only took 1:12 after our goal for BU to tie the score on a shot that clanked off a Cornell skater into the net.

With two minutes remaining in the first period, a lengthy review of a after the whistle battle, we were assessed a five-minute major penalty for grabbing the face mask.  This gave us the challenge of defending the fourth-best power play in the collegiate ranks for five minutes, and the boys were up to the challenge.  The game, up to this point, had been a real stalemate.  After 40 minutes, both teams had 23 shots on goal, while we had an edge in faceoffs won, 16-15.

BU took advantage of its power play, and scored 34 seconds into the third period to take a 2-1 lead.  But O'Leary completed a great pass from senior defenseman Tim Rego to tie the game at 2-2 with 5:30 remaining.  There were a few more offensive thrusts by both teams, but the game was destined to go into overtime.

Overtime began with us having a couple of quality scoring opportunities. At 6:25 of the extra session, BU scored the winning goal on a shot from the right point that made it through traffic and into the left corner of the goal.

Shane made 40 saves (the second time of his career), and the BU goaltender stopped 37 shots.  We were 0-for-3 on the power play, and they were 1-for-4.

I am so proud of this team's grittiness and determination. To tie the game up showed their perseverance again . We had a couple great chances in overtime in the first few minutes.  When the goal went in my heart sunk.  To see this happen to our seniors three years in a row was difficult. They wanted the Final Four so bad.  It is hard to put in words what it was like in the locker room.  We finished the season 19-11-6, and won the ECAC Tournament trophy.

It has been an honor and privilege to coach these players and so many other players before them.  I have been blessed with so many great assistants coaches and volunteers that I wouldn't even know where to start to thank so many great people who have impacted my life and helped Cornell hockey be so successful.
Mike Schafer
mcs14@cornell.edu
607-327-1069

[upprdeck]

the sickness in the 2nd game was really telling on guys. they toughed it out for sure, but the energy was down in several of them

[BearLover]

Here's Schafer's Letter for any of you who don't receive it:

CORNELL 4, Michigan State 3
Boston U 3, CORNELL 2 OT

It had to happen eventually, but it would have been great to finish up one's career in the Frozen Four finals.  Coming off the ECAC championship, I couldn't have been happier with how hard our guys played.

The win over Michigan State was one for the books. To keep coming back against the top ranked team in the country in the rink where it was like a home game for them was classic Cornell hockey.

Michigan State opened the scoring at 7:20 into the game.  All season long, the Spartans put a lot of shots on goal from everywhere, and their first period goal snapped our six-game streak of scoring first.  For the game, they outshot us, 37-21.

At 15:02, sophomore forward Ryan Walsh picked the pocket of s Michigan State player, and quickly beat the Spartan goaltender to make it 1-1.  With 49 seconds remaining, we were assessed a penalty, and it took the Spartans just 20 seconds to regain the lead at 2-1.

We had a tough second period, and didn't have a shot on goal until halftime through the period, and finished with just four shots total for the middle stanza.  But all was not lost. At 16:30, sophomore forward Charlie Major showed his marksmanship with a one-timer that dented the back of the net. Seventeen seconds later, senior goaltender Ian Shane turned the puck over, and Michigan State led, 3-2. For the season, the Spartans were 18-0-2 when leading after two periods of play.

In the third period, we were just a team that would not be denied. At 12:38, sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson sent a shot on goal that resulted in a rebound. Walsh, standing on the doorstep, tied the game for the third time with his conversion tally. Ryan has been a tremendous player for us all season long.  He's also tremendous on faceoffs against the best in the country. I think we gave the boys a wakeup call going into that third period, as we outshot Michigan State, 12-7.

With 1:39 remaining, we were awarded our only power-play opportunity on the night, as speedy senior forward Jack O'Leary was pulled down from behind on his way to the net. We really put the pressure on, and with 20 seconds left, Major and senior forward Sullivan Mack exchanged passes about eight feet in front of the net. On the last exchange, Mack fired the puck into the net for the 4-3 win with 10 seconds remaining.

Shane played well in goal with 34 saves, and the Spartan's netminder stopped 17 shots. Both teams were 1-for-1 on the power play.

The next day was a day off before we were to faceoff against Boston University.  Thank goodness we didn't have to play as the flu bug ran through our team. If we had to play, we would have been missing five players.  I just can't believe how well this team has played, coming off so many injuries and sickness.

On to the BU game. We took a 1-0 lead at 7:35 into the game, with Walsh doing the honors once again. Junior forward Dalton Bancroft's initial shot was blocked, but the rebound hit Walsh and bounced back into the net. It was originally called a no-goal, citing a hand pass, but we challenged the call and were successful. It only took 1:12 after our goal for BU to tie the score on a shot that clanked off a Cornell skater into the net.

With two minutes remaining in the first period, a lengthy review of a after the whistle battle, we were assessed a five-minute major penalty for grabbing the face mask.  This gave us the challenge of defending the fourth-best power play in the collegiate ranks for five minutes, and the boys were up to the challenge.  The game, up to this point, had been a real stalemate.  After 40 minutes, both teams had 23 shots on goal, while we had an edge in faceoffs won, 16-15.

BU took advantage of its power play, and scored 34 seconds into the third period to take a 2-1 lead.  But O'Leary completed a great pass from senior defenseman Tim Rego to tie the game at 2-2 with 5:30 remaining.  There were a few more offensive thrusts by both teams, but the game was destined to go into overtime.

Overtime began with us having a couple of quality scoring opportunities. At 6:25 of the extra session, BU scored the winning goal on a shot from the right point that made it through traffic and into the left corner of the goal.

Shane made 40 saves (the second time of his career), and the BU goaltender stopped 37 shots.  We were 0-for-3 on the power play, and they were 1-for-4.

I am so proud of this team's grittiness and determination. To tie the game up showed their perseverance again . We had a couple great chances in overtime in the first few minutes.  When the goal went in my heart sunk.  To see this happen to our seniors three years in a row was difficult. They wanted the Final Four so bad.  It is hard to put in words what it was like in the locker room.  We finished the season 19-11-6, and won the ECAC Tournament trophy.

It has been an honor and privilege to coach these players and so many other players before them.  I have been blessed with so many great assistants coaches and volunteers that I wouldn't even know where to start to thank so many great people who have impacted my life and helped Cornell hockey be so successful.
Mike Schafer
mcs14@cornell.edu
607-327-1069

So now we can blame the flu among the dozens of other things that have prevented us from getting to the frozen four since 2003. This was the most crushing loss I have ever experienced as a Cornell fan and I still am not close to getting over it. I guess I never will. One of those games that haunts you forever.

[BearLover]

the sickness in the 2nd game was really telling on guys. they toughed it out for sure, but the energy was down in several of them

Who? The team looked on the whole faster and more physical than in the MSU game...

[upprdeck]

you were not watching from 10ft away then

[BearLover]

you were not watching from 10ft away then

I am just asking which players you thought looked slower and low-energy

[upprdeck]

Well if you read the email you see that several should not have been playing at all and probably wouldnt had it been a reg game.

About 10 were struggling.  really sucking air all game long.

[BearLover]

Well if you read the email you see that several should not have been playing at all and probably wouldnt had it been a reg game.

About 10 were struggling.  really sucking air all game long.

I read the email. I directly replied to it like five posts above. Since you said you noticed that multiple players were really struggling, I was asking you which ones.

[upprdeck]

I didnt really take notes. I could see it live and knew of it happening.

Even Shane was still off it looked.

[BearLover]

I didnt really take notes. I could see it live and knew of it happening.

Even Shane was still off it looked.

OK, I mean, I don't know. I wasn't there in person. On TV, the team played was in a 50-50 game against a far more talented lineup. They largely kept up with BU's speed. So I was surprised to hear you thought their sickness was visibly affecting them.

[upprdeck]

i think the tv timeouts helped us

[underskill]

They did seem to play less physical but maybe I'm wrong

[ER]

They did seem to play less physical but maybe I'm wrong

I noticed that too. A lot of checking opportunities went unchecked. I thought it was because they were trying to stay out of the box. They also lost a lot of puck battles they typically win

[BearLover]

They did seem to play less physical but maybe I'm wrong

I noticed that too. A lot of checking opportunities went unchecked. I thought it was because they were trying to stay out of the box. They also lost a lot of puck battles they typically win

I also noticed this in the MSU game. It didn't seem specific to the BU game.