ITHACA, N.Y. — A loose helmet made the difference on Friday evening at Lynah Rink as visiting Nebraska-Omaha skated to a 1-1 tie with Cornell.
Both goaltenders played phenomenally for their respective sides, as Mitch Gillam made 38 stops for the Big Red, while Ryan Massa stopped 29 of the pucks he saw on the evening to support the Mavericks.
Perhaps the biggest play from Massa, though, came when he did not make a stop, as his helmet came free late in the second period, just before Cornell’s John McCarron put in a potential go-ahead goal.
The possible tally needed video review to confirm, but Omaha coach Dean Blais was not overly concerned about the call on the ice: “[Maverick volunteer goalie coach] Leigh Mendelson saw it right away and I thought, it’s probably not going to be called, because if his mask comes off, it’s an automatic whistle.”
Just a brief video review was needed to confirm the call, as the game remained deadlocked after 40 minutes of play.
In their first contest of the season, the Big Red would find the twine first, when their highly-acclaimed umbrella power play would convert.
Jacob MacDonald, who was stationed at the center point, was playing pass with fellow defenseman Patrick McCarron, who was at the right wall. After some delay, MacDonald shuffled the puck over to the top of the left faceoff dot, where Matt Buckles unleashed a one timed shot that sailed over the glove of Massa, clanked off the post and into the net, giving Cornell the advantage going into the first break.
It would not take long for the Mavericks to even the score, as a misplayed puck in Cornell’s own end led to an easy finish at the other end of the ice.
Tyler Vesel picked up the puck on a 2-on-1 break in the neutral zone, after Cornell’s Dan Wedman misplayed it at the blue line. Vesel moved it over to Jake Randolph and then made a dash for the cage. When Vesel got the return pass from Randolph, he was perfectly positioned at the top of the crease and easily beat Gillam to level the score at one.
Cornell’s nullified tally did not come until very late in the second frame, as these two squads skated tightly all evening. That trend would stop in the third period, as the Mavericks continued their barrage of shots on Gillam in the closing frame. Omaha ended with 10 shots in the third, doubling Cornell’s five.
The Big Red started the extra session with 1:40 of power play time as a fancy play at the attacking blue line by MacDonald induced a tripping call with 20 seconds left to play in regulation. Unfortunately for the Big Red, it could not convert, as a sprawling stop by Massa to take away the far post from Joel Lowry was one of the few highlights from the overtime period.
Both teams would settle with the eventual tie, but the moods were quite contrasting in the two locker rooms.
Blais commended his team for their ability to weather the storm from the physically-tough Big Red squad in this, the program’s first ever trip to Ithaca, while Cornell bench boss Mike Schafer was not as pleased.
Schafer took a knock on the team’s older players, saying, “our leadership needs to step up. They need to stop talking and start playing.”
