Senior forward Gabriel Seger recorded two goals and two assists, posting a career-high four points, in a 4-2 victory for the No. 16-ranked Cornell men’s hockey team over its Central New York rival Colgate at the Class of 1965 Arena on Friday night in an ECAC Hockey contest.
Seger was joined in the scoring column by sophomore forward Dalton Bancroft and junior forward Ondrej Psenicka. Freshman defenseman Ben Robertson and junior forward Kyle Penney each chipped in a pair of assists. Psenicka also had a multi-point night by registering an assist.
Junior goaltender Ian Shane improved his record to 6-1-1 on the year after he stopped 23 Colgate shots in the victory for the Big Red (6-3-1, 3-3-1 ECAC Hockey).
Ryan McGuire and Daniel Panetta scored both of Colgate’s goals, while Carter Gylander made 29 saves in the setback for the Raiders (5-8-2, 2-4-2 ECAC Hockey).
Cornell opened the scoring 2:35 into the contest as Seger took advantage of a loose puck after sophomore forward Nick DeSantis had his possession of the puck interrupted by a Colgate defender. Robertson was credited with a secondary assist due to his outlet pass to DeSantis on a defensive zone breakout.
Colgate leveled the game in the second period when McGuire pounced on a loose puck inside Shane’s goal crease.
Seger responded quickly to McGuire’s goal, netting his second goal of the night just over a minute after McGuire. The marker was Seger’s eighth of the year, marking the most goals in a single season for the native of Uppsala, Sweden.
Later in the middle stanza, Bancroft increased Cornell’s lead as he potted a one-timer at the bottom of the left faceoff circle off a pass from Robertson at the base of the right point. Seger tallied his third point of the night, logging a secondary assist on the marker.
Cornell’s two-goal lead was preserved when Shane made a leaping cross-crease save to rob Ross Mitton of a power-play goal near the middle portion of the third period.
lColgate eventually trimmed the Big Red’s lead in half when it netted a power-play goal with 9:26 remaining in regulation. Panetta took advantage of a fortuitous bounce as a Cornell player was lying on the ice to prevent a cross-slot pass.
In the later stages of the game, following a scrum against the boards in Colgate’s offensive zone, Seger fed Psenicka on the left wing before he rifled a shot into Colgate’s empty cage to increase the Big Red’s lead back to two.
GAME NOTES
• Friday marked the 167th all-time meeting between the two Central New York rivals. Cornell improved its record over Colgate to 89-61-17 and is unbeaten in 32 of its last 39 games against the Raiders (24-7-8). The Big Red also increased its all-time mark at the Class of 1965 Arena to 5-1-1 and is 11-3-2 over its last 16 games played in Hamilton.
• With his first-period assist on Seger’s goal, Robertson became the third Cornell defenseman in the Mike Schafer ’86 era (since 1995-96) to register at least 10 assists across the first 10 games of a season, joining Steve Wilson (10 in 1995-96) and Douglas Murray (10 in 2002-03). Robertson also became the ninth Cornell blueliner (10th instance) to register 10-plus assists over the first 10 games of a season, dating back to 1960-61. His 11 assists are the most by a Cornell defenseman in the first 10 games since Joe Gallant had 13 assists to open the 1981-82 campaign.
10+ ASSISTS BY DEFENSEMAN IN FIRST 10 GAMES
Cornell Program History (Since 1960-61)
• Bruce Pattison (1967-68) — 12 assists
• Dan Lodboa (1969-70) — 12 assists
• Jim Higgs (1970-71) — 12 assists
• Stephen Bajinski (1974-75) — 15 assists
• Rob Gemmell (1978-79) — 11 assists
• Joe Gallant (1980-81) — 14 assists
• Joe Gallant (1981-82) — 13 assists
• Steve Wilson (1995-96) — 10 assists
• Douglas Murray (2002-03) — 10 assists
• Ben Robertson (2023-24) — 11 assists
• Robertson became the 10th player (12th occurrence) to have a double-digit assist total over the first 10 games of a season under Schafer. He is the first to do so since Colin Greening in 2009-10. Along with Greening, Wilson, and Murray, the others include Kyle Knopp (1997-98 and 1998-99), Stephen Baby (2001-02 and 2002-03), Sam Paolini (2001-02), and Matt Moulson and Ryan Vesce (2003-04).
10+ ASSISTS IN FIRST 10 GAMES OF SEASON
Mike Schafer Era (Since 1995-96)
• Steve Wilson (1995-96) — 10 assists
• Kyle Knopp (1997-98) — 10 assists
• Kyle Knopp (1998-99) — 13 assists
• Stephen Bâby (2001-02) — 11 assists
• Sam Paolini (2001-02) — 10 assists
• Stephen Bâby (2002-03) — 11 assists
• Matt Moulson (2003-04) — 10 assists
• Ryan Vesce (2003-04) — 10 assists
• Colin Greening (2009-10) — 11 assists
• Ben Robertson (2023-24) — 11 assists
• Cornell improved to 4-1-0 on the season when netting the game’s first goal. Under Schafer, the Big Red is 383-87-52 in those situations.
• Seger has nine points (three goals, six assists) over seven career games against the Raiders. He also had another successful night at the faceoff circle going 19-of-28 (.679) on draws, which included winning 11 consecutive faceoffs at one point. Over his career, Seger has won 987 faceoffs and needs 13 wins on Saturday to eclipse the century mark.
UP NEXT
Cornell and Colgate will return to the ice to conclude its home-and-home series on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Lynah Rink. Game action will be broadcast on ESPN+ and over the airwaves on WHCU (870 AM, 97.7 FM, whcuradio.com). Canadian fans can also watch the broadcast on TSN+.
Saturday’s contest will be a White Out, and all fans are encouraged to wear white. In addition to the White Out, fans can bring toys for Cornell hockey’s annual Toys for Tots Drive. Those bringing toys should place their donations inside the Toys for Tots bins throughout the concourse.
BIG RED BLOCKS FOR HEALING
The Cornell men’s hockey team has launched a season-long campaign called “Big Red Blocks for Healing.” The campaign will help raise funds for Kesem, an organization that supports children affected by a cancer diagnosis to a parent.
Fans can join Cornell’s team and pledge a determined dollar amount (minimum of $0.10) for each shot Cornell blocks throughout the 2023-24 season. An alternative to the price-per-block, fans are also eligible to make a one-time donation.
Cornell aims to raise $5,000 for Kesem as a program by the end of the 2023-24 season.
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].