LAKE PLACID — A 14-year drought for the Cornell Big Red men’s hockey teams ended on Saturday.
The Big Red defeated the St. Lawrence Saints 3-1 at the Olympic Center’s 1980 Herb Brooks Arena to earn its first Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference crown since 2010.
As sticks and helmets went flying in celebration, long-time Cornell hockey coach Mike Schaffer left the ice and gave his wife and hug. For Schaffer, who earned his fifth ECAC crown and the school’s 13th, a weight had finally been lifted.
“Only the coaches know and the players know what really truly goes into a season. No one else does. Not your administrator, not your AD (or) reporters,” he said. “I don’t even care how many people are around your program all year only the coaches and the players know exactly what goes into it.
“The hours of recruiting, the video, talking to guys, helping guys with the ups and downs. There’s a lot of emotion because there is so much investment from players and coaching staff, trainers, equipment guys. It’s a family.”
The second seeded Big Red used a strong defensive pressure to shut down the red hot No. 7 seeded Saints chances of winning the ECAC title, while securing an automatic berth into the NCAA Division I national tournament.
“They make you work for ice all over the offensive zone, (defensive) zone (and) neutral zone,” St. Lawrence forward Josh Boyer said. “They are skating in your lane, giving you bumps all over. It’s a hard game to play against them. We knew that coming in, and we tried to match that. They came out better tonight.”
Cornell, which defeated the No. 4 Dartmouth Big Green in Friday’s semifinal game, blocked 14 shots in the first two periods and jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Saturday from a pair of goals from freshman forward Jonathan Castagna.
Castagna, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, opened up the scoring in the first period with a soft backhand shot that trickled over the right shoulder of St. Lawrence’s goalkeeper Ben Kraws.
“I’d like to say the first goal wasn’t the prettiest one in the world, but it did drop into the back of the net and I was pretty happy about that,” Castagna said.
In the second period, Castagna buried a loose rebound between Kraws’ legs to extend the Big Red’s lead to 2-0.
“All of it was kind of a blur,” Castagna said. “The whole game, you’re not too worried about the score. You’re worried about trying to get out there and do all the little things right and stick to the details and in the end everything else will come and we’re fortunate enough that we got the bounce tonight and we ended up on the right side of it.”
After Kraws, who stopped 26 shots in the contest, made a massive a save in the third period, the Saints got on the board in the third when Cameron Buhl finished off a 2-on-1 rush by riffling a shot past Cornell’s goalie, Ian Shane, to bring the score within one.
“I thought we had put the game away and made in 3-0,” Schaffer said. “Then they came right back down and scored and everybody was anxious — the players a little bit and the coaching staff. The guys settled down a little bit.”
St. Lawrence’s hope of mounting the comeback was cut short when Shane held his ground in net and Red forward Jack O’Leary scored Cornell’s third and final goal on an empty net. Shane recorded 31 saves in the win.
The Saints, who defeated the defending national champions and top seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats 3-0 in Friday’s semifinal game, ended its season with a 14-19-6 record.
“I can’t stress the pride that I have for this group,” St. Lawrence head coach Brent Brekke said. “They played hard for one another. It’s a pretty special group. I couldn’t ask for much more. They put in on the line with no regrets.”
Cornell improved to 21-6-6 and will wait for their next opponent in the NCAA tournament. Quinnipiac is expected to join the Big Red in the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid. The Bobcats are currently 26-9-2.
Last season, Cornell upset No. 4 Denver in the first round of the NCAA tournament, before falling to Boston University in the quarterfinals.
“I think the upper classmen remember from last year how hard it is to get to the tournament for one and then to have success in the tournament is really difficult,” Shane said. “I think coming in here and accomplishing what we did sets us up for success and it gives us a little bit of momentum going into that.”