No. 16 Cornell Stages Third Period Comeback, Upsets No. 5 Boston University at Red Hot Hockey

Cornell goaltender Ian Shane made 35 saves, and forward Ondrej Psenicka scored the winning goal at 8:24 of the third period to win their fourth Kelley-Harkness Cup in a row at Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK – Cornell was looking for a break.

After a sluggish first period led to a more productive second period, the No. 16 Big Red had no answer for No. 5 Boston University in the ninth installment of Red Hot Hockey at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

Freshman Doug Grimes gave BU a 1-0 lead entering the third period, but back-to-back penalties – tripping on Jeremy Wilmer at 1:03 and interference on Lane Hutson just six seconds after Wilmer’s ended – gave Cornell a massive opportunity to bounce back, despite Terrier netminder Mathieu Caron (17 saves) continually shutting the door on the Big Red offense.

Cornell failed to convert on the Wilmer penalty, but they wouldn’t be denied on Hutson’s. Ryan Walsh’s rip from inside the left circle tied it 1-1 at 3:58, abruptly shifting the momentum into Cornell’s favor.

Just 4:26 later, Ondrej Psenicka took the 2-1 lead, knocking home a slick backhanded pass from Jonathan Castanaga.

Psenicka has played at Madison Square Garden three times and has scored in all three games. The junior Czech forward now has three points (one goal, two assists) in nine games.

“I just had in my head a plan, we have as a team,” Psenicka said. “And some personal goals I want to achieve in this game. Yeah, I think I get some luck in this arena, I guess. But yeah, guys help me a lot during that situation, so obviously I’m super, super happy to be one as a team.”

The Big Red and goaltender Ian Shane (35 saves) had to kill off two more penalties, including 38 seconds of 5-on-3, and 1:33 of 6-on-5 at the end of the game to hold on to the win, their fourth in a row claiming the Kelley-Harkness Cup.

“All the things that you think about facing adversity, the guys just stuck together as a team, and it was just a building block for us,” Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. “We know we have to get a lot better as a hockey team still, that’s just the first start of it, and very proud of our team for just finding a way to win tonight. It wasn’t beautiful, it wasn’t pretty, but with a young team you have to learn how to win.”

BU’s freshman phenom Macklin Celebrini, the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, went without a point for the second game in a row, and just the third time this season. Lane Hutson also failed to score, but the duo drove BU’s offense all night, combining for 11 shots on goal. They couldn’t crack Shane and the Cornell defense, which blocked 19 shots.

The Terriers went 0-for-4 on the power play, and the Big Red dominated on the face-off dot, winning 37-of-58 draws (63.8%).

“We couldn’t find a way to tie it up,” BU coach Jay Pandolfo said. “Give them credit, I thought their goalie was excellent. I thought they did a heck of a job selling out and blocking shots. But overall, I mean, I liked the effort of our group.”

BU threatened to tie the game multiple times down the stretch. Freshman forward Shane Lachance, who assisted Grimes’ goal, lifted a puck just over the crossbar when facing an open net at 10:50, and Shane absorbed a high Celebrini snap shot with his shoulder with just 1:08 left in regulation.

BU outshot Cornell 18-6 in the third period, and 36-19 the entire game, but Shane, who had not faced more than 20 shots in a game so far this season, held firm when it mattered most.

“I don’t think there’s really any other team that we’re going to play against that has that much better, that much more skilled than I see on my own team,” Shane said. “So they do a great job preparing me throughout the week, and I hope they can say the same for me too.”