Dominic James scored twice and assisted on another Minnesota Duluth goal, aiding the No. 19-ranked Bulldogs to a 4-2 victory over No. 20-ranked Cornell on Saturday night at Amsoil Arena, ensuring a two-game sweep of the Big Red.
Joining James with multi-point nights were Wyatt Kaiser (one goal, one assist) and Quinn Olson (two assists). Zach Stejskal stopped 30 Cornell shots for the Bulldogs (4-4-0) in the victory.
Freshman Sean Donaldson and senior Ben Berard were the goal scorers for the Big Red (0-2-0). Donaldson’s marker was the first of his collegiate career.
Ian Shane made nine saves in the third period after relieving Remington Keopple, who made his collegiate debut on Saturday. Keopple stopped 11 of the 15 shots he faced over the first two periods.
James opened the scoring just over five minutes into the contest with a breakaway goal on Keopple. Kaiser set up the goal with a tape-to-tape pass up the middle of the ice from his defensive zone to just shy of the Bulldogs’ offensive blue line.
Donaldson countered the opening tally with his goal just 40 seconds later. Matt Stienburg and Tim Rego were credited with their first points of the season on the goal.
Minnesota Duluth scored three unanswered goals over a 30-minute span to jump out to a 4-1 lead.
Kaiser netted his second goal of the weekend to put the Bulldogs ahead just past the midpoint of the first period.
James deposited his second goal of the night to increase the Bulldogs lead in the second period when he and Olson led the Bulldogs to a 2-on-1 opportunity as a Big Red power play was winding down. Olson saucered a pass from the right side of the ice to James where he one-timed his shot past Keopple.
Blake Biondi added a power-play goal with 1.9 seconds left in the second to give Minnesota Duluth a three-goal lead headed into the final intermission.
Early on in the third, Berard cut into the Bulldogs’ lead when he deflected a Michael Suda shot from the blue line after a Gabriel Seger faceoff win.
Seger ended the night going 16-of-20 in the faceoff circle.
Game Notes
• Saturday was the fourth all-time meeting between Cornell and Minnesota Duluth. Minnesota Duluth took the advantage in the series, 2-1-1, following Saturday’s result.
• Hank Kempf, Travis Mitchell, and Matt Stienburg each blocked two shots for Cornell, as nine different Big Red players registered at least one blocked shot.
• Cornell outshot Minnesota Duluth, 33-24, and had a plus-17 advantage in shot attempts, 60-43.
Looking Ahead
Cornell returns to the Eastern time zone next weekend when the Big Red opens ECAC Hockey play against Princeton and Quinnipiac. Puck drop for both road contests is slated for 7 p.m. Each contest will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].