Men's Hockey Tops Rival Cornell for First Time Since 2012

ITHACA, N.Y.—Ryan Bliss scored, Lynah Rink roared.

In just one period of play, the No. 9/8 Harvard men’s hockey team had transformed the latest installment of college hockey’s most historic rivalry into a rout. But 14 seconds before the Crimson could close out its near-perfect opening frame, Bliss put a dent in No. 10/10 Cornell’s 3-0 deficit, and minutes into the second, Trevor Yates followed suit, injecting new life into the fish-flinging Lynah faithful.

Seven minutes later, however, sophomore defenseman Wiley Sherman put an end to the party.

Stationed just inside the blue line, the second-pair D-man wound up and blasted a one-timer past goaltender Mitch Gillam off a pass from Colin Blackwell, giving Harvard a bit of a cushion in what amounted to a convincing 6-2 victory Saturday night—its first over the Big Red since Nov. 16, 2012.

“We’ve all seen that shot in practice, but we hadn’t seen it in a game,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said with a grin. “That was a big league shot.”

“It feels great, but I didn’t really do any of the work,” Sherman explained. “It was Colin Blackwell. He set me up with the feed, so I just had to shoot.”

Playing against Cornell (11-5-3, 6-4-2 ECAC) for the first time in three seasons, Blackwell set up the Sherman strike after burning a defenseman deep in the corner, giving him a four-point weekend for the second time in his career.

The fifth-year senior got his first point of the night 2:22 into the opening period, kicking off the Crimson’s early onslaught with a rip from the left circle on Harvard’s first power play. After nearly scoring from the same spot on Friday, Blackwell—who missed the two rivals’ previous four meetings with injuries—collected a rebound off his own shot and beat Gillam, marking the first of three power play goals on the night for the Crimson (11-4-3, 7-3-3).

“[Colin’s] a guy that elevates his game under the spotlight, so we’re happy to have him back,” Donato said. “He’s been through hell and back with his health issues, so it’s good to see him out there. I thought he was outstanding last night and tonight.”

Back in the lineup for the second straight night, freshman forward Michael Floodstrand followed up Blackwell’s tally at 11:06. Top-pair defenseman Brayden Jaw fired a shot from outside the right circle that Gillam got his right pad on, but the junior goaltender kicked the puck right out to Floodstrand by the far post, allowing the rookie to knock home his second goal of the season.

Two minutes later, Harvard’s co-captains upped the lead to three on the Crimson’s second power play of the night. Perched on the goal line, senior forward Jimmy Vesey found Kyle Criscuolo in the slot, and the Southampton, N.J., native netted his 14th goal of the year from his knees to put the visitors in complete command.

Harvard finished 3-for-4 on the man advantage after junior forward Luke Esposito provided a power-play dagger in the final minute of the second period, increasing the Crimson’s lead to 5-2. Harvard now ranks second in the nation with a 32 percent success rate on the man advantage.

On the opposite end of the rink, sophomore goaltender Merrick Madsen had a bit of difficulty in his first career start at Lynah. Despite having to take extra shifts after losing Victor Newell to injury in the first period, the Harvard defense held the Big Red to just nine shots through the first two periods, but Madsen let two of them skip through.

Per Lynah RInk tradition, the Crimson lined up for the pregame ceremonies along the end boards on Saturday, as the Cornell student section hurled fish the players' way. By Jake Meagher

Bliss got the hosts on the board, notching his first goal of the season with just 14 seconds remaining in the first, thwarting an otherwise perfect period for the Crimson. Then sophomore fourth-liner Alex Rauter set up Yates on an odd-numbered rush just over two minutes into the second to pull Cornell within one and send the packed house of over 4,000 into a frenzy.

“This rink, this atmosphere—it’s got to be one of the best, if not the best in college hockey,” Blackwell said. “The crowd makes you really get into the game immediately right from the first shift.”

Nonetheless, in front of a rejuvenated crowd, Harvard held the hosts off the board the rest of the way. Sherman’s one-timer gave the Crimson some breathing room, and Esposito put the contest out of reach from the top of the right circle at 19:33 in the second stanza. Junior forward Tyler Moy added an empty netter in the game’s final seconds.

“It was a big game, and I thought we made the plays we needed to,” Donato said.

“I’m happy for our group of seniors that gets to walk out of Lynah with their heads high,” he added. “That’s not an easy thing to do.”

—Staff writer Jake Meagher can be reached at jake.meagher@thecrimson.com.