UVA was up 5-2 on Cornell in the second quarter and looking to improve to 7-0. Cornell said not so fast, scored 9 straight goals, and took a commanding 11-5 lead. Cornell ended up winning the game 12-9 as UVA tried to claw their way back in, but to no avail.
Photo Credit: Rich Barnes
Cornell got solid and diverse scoring from a number of players including Matt Donovan (2 goals, 3 assists), Connor Buczek (3 goals), Dan Lintner (3 goals), John Hogan (1 goal, 1 assist), Doug Tesoriero (2 assists, 12-24 on face offs), and John Edmonds (1 goal, 1 assist). Christian Knight made his first start in goal, and after struggling to settle down early, he ended the game with 15 huge saves. Tom Freshour was a beast on D causing 4 turnovers and picking up 6 ground balls.
UVA also got balanced scoring, but it wasn’t enough to overcome that 9 goal run by the Big Red. Mark Cockerton scored a hat trick, and Owen Van Arsdale has three helpers. Ryan Tucker, James Pannell, and Rob Emery each scored 2 goals.
A big difference maker in the game turned out to be penalties. UVA went 1-4, and Cornell went 2-9 on their man up chances. While neither team dominated in this facet of the game, after Cornell went up big, the penalties started coming hot and heavy, and that impacted the game. Only two of the 13 penalties in the game came in the first half, and that resulted in a jerky second half of action, with lots of stoppages.
With Cornell up big, and UVA getting tossed in the box quite a bit, a comeback was not in the cards. UVA tried to play on the edge of reckless, but it may have gone too far. Time in the sin bin is no way to make a comeback.
Cornell also got some big face off wins from Tesoriero when they needed them. He went 50% on the day, but Tesoriero won the draws when they counted. His two assists didn’t hurt either!
Virginia next plays at Notre Dame on March 16th for a HUGE ACC game. Cornell currently sits at 5-0, and they take on 2-1 Yale next at home on March 15th.
