Friday, January 4, 2019

Cornell Edges Princeton, 3-2



Alec McCrea's wrist shot from the right point with just over seven minutes remaining in regulation served as the game-winning goal as No. 20 Cornell edged host Princeton, 3-2, in ECAC Hockey and Ivy League action on Friday night, in a penalty-free game at a sold-out Hobey Baker Rink.

Brenden Locke and Brendan Smith each recorded his respective first goal of the season in the first period for Cornell, to boost the Big Red to a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes. Princeton pulled within a goal on Matthew Thom's score late in the second stanza, and then tied matters 11:37 into the third period as Corey Andonovski cleaned up the rebound of a shot by Thom.

Just over a minute later, McCrea took a pass from Max Andreev on the right side and whipped a high shot past Princeton netminder Ryan Ferland (33 saves). After a lengthy review, the goal was allowed to stand. Princeton had one last offensive chance with five seconds left, but couldn't get a shot on net off a face-off in the Big Red's end of the ice.

Cornell (7-5-0 overall, 5-2-0 ECAC Hockey, 5-1-1 Ivy League) outshot Princeton, 36-32, before 2,300 spectators, and got 30 saves from winning goaltender Austin McGrath. The Big Red also swept its regular-season series with Princeton, having topped the Tigers by a 5-1 count in Ithaca, N.Y. in mid-November.

Friday's game also saw no penalties called on either team, in what was Cornell's first overall appearance since Dec. 1. The Big Red visits Quinnipiac on Saturday, while Princeton (5-9-2, 3-5-1, 1-2-1) will entertain Colgate, after the Tigers saw their three-game unbeaten streak snapped.

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