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Home » Sports » College » Cornell Big Red » Cornell men’s hockey blanks Rensselaer to close out regular season

Cornell men’s hockey blanks Rensselaer to close out regular season

Junior goaltender Remington Keopple recorded 21 saves on his way to achieving his first career shutout in the Cornell men’s hockey team’s (13-10-6, 10-8-4 ECAC Hockey) 6-0 victory against RPI (12-20-2, 7-15-0 ECAC Hockey) at Houston Field House on Saturday night.

Along with his shutout, Keopple notched his first career point, assisting freshman forward Charlie Major on his third-period goal.

Junior forward Dalton Bancroft and senior forward Sullivan Mack each tallied a goal and an assist in the victory. Sophomore defenseman George Fegaras added two assists to round out the trio of Cornell players with multi-point nights. A total of 15 players appeared on the scoresheet for the Big Red.

Joining Bancroft, Mack, and Major in scoring were senior forward Kyler Kovich, sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson, and junior forward Nick DeSantis.

Kovich’s goal was his second career game-winning marker, joining his go-ahead tally against North Dakota on Jan. 7, 2022.

RPI’s Noah Giesbrecht made 25 saves in between the pipes for RPI before giving way to Jack Watson, who stopped nine of 11 shots he faced in relief.

Box Score

For the second consecutive night, the Big Red opened the scoring within the first two minutes as Kovich lasered a shot from the left faceoff circle past a screened Giesbrecht off a feed from sophomore defenseman Hoyt Stanley.

Cornell’s lead was doubled at the 9:32 mark of the second period on a backhanded shot by DeSantis, who pounced at a loose rebound on the edge of the goal crease.
 
A four-goal third period separated Cornell from RPI, with all four Big Red goals scored in a span of 5:56.
 
Bancroft netted the period’s first goal, lasering a shot from the point following a breakout from the Big Red’s defensive zone.

Major followed Bancroft with his own goal 47 seconds later, picking up the puck at the far half-wall inside the Big Red’s defensive zone off a pass from Keopple, ultimately chasing Giesbrecht from the game after scoring from the point on a snapshot – similar to Bancroft’s tally.

Robertson extended Cornell’s lead to 5-0, snapping his 20-game goalless streak, before Mack tacked on an insurance marker 37 seconds later.

GAME NOTES
• Saturday marked the 122nd meeting between Cornell and RPI, with the Big Red extending its winning streak to six games and increasing its series lead to 72-39-11.
 
• The Big Red’s six-game winning streak over the Engineers marks Cornell’s third-longest streak against RPI, following an eight-game streak (from March 9, 1974, to Feb. 13, 1979) and a seven-game streak (from Nov. 10, 2001, to March 15, 2003).
 
LONGEST WIN STREAKS AGAINST RPI
Cornell Program History
• 8 games (March 9, 1974 – Feb. 13, 1979)
• 7 games (Nov. 10, 2001 – March 15, 2003)
• 6 games (Jan. 7, 2023 – Present)
• 5 games (Jan. 2, 1964 – Nov. 29, 1967)
• 5 games (Feb. 10, 2007 – Feb. 20, 2009)
 
• Cornell has won nine of the last 10 against RPI, averaging 4.60 goals per game and having an average margin of victory of 2.60. All nine wins during the stretch have been by at least two goals.
 
• The six-goal output was its most goals against RPI since posting a 6-4 win at Houston Field House on Jan. 7, 2023. It was also Cornell’s first win by six-plus goals against RPI since an 11-3 win at Lynah Rink on Nov. 13, 2021. Cornell’s last win by six-plus goals on RPI’s home ice also came in a 6-0 shutout on Jan. 20, 1976.
 
• With the victory, Cornell ends ECAC Hockey play with a 10-9-4 record, marking its eighth consecutive season with at least 10 conference victories. The streak for achieving 10 or more conference wins is the third-longest in program history, trailing a 19-year period from 1964-65 to 1982-83, and the most recent streak of 13 consecutive seasons from 1999-00 to 2011-12.
 
CONSECUTIVE 10-WIN SEASONS IN CONFERENCE PLAY
Cornell Program History
• 19 seasons, 1964-65 – 1982-83
• 13 seasons, 1999-00 – 2011-12
• 8 seasons, 2016-17 – Present
• 5 seasons, 1987-88 – 1991-92
 
• Keopple notched his first career point and shutout, becoming the sixth Cornell goaltender to record a point in a shutout. He is the first since Matthew Galajda against Brown in the 2019 ECAC Hockey Championship semifinals. It was just the second time the feat had been accomplished in a true road game, joining Errol McKibbon on Nov. 30, 1963, against Penn in a 13-0 victory over the Quakers.
 
GOALTENDERS WITH A POINT IN A SHUTOUT
Cornell Program History
• Errol McKibbon, Nov. 30, 1963, at Penn (assist and 12 saves in 13-0 win)
• Ken Dryden, Nov. 23, 1968, vs. Guelph (assist and 14 saves in 13-0 win)
• Jim Crozier, Nov. 9, 1990, vs. Army (assist and 25 saves in 5-0 win)
• Ben Scrivens, March 9, 2008, vs. Dartmouth (assist and 32 saves in 6-0 win)
• Matthew Galajda, March 22, 2019, vs. Brown (assist and 30 saves in 6-0 win)
• Remington Keopple, March 1, 2025, at RPI (assist and 21 saves in 6-0 win)
 
• After senior goaltender Ian Shane had an assist against Harvard on Nov. 16, Keopple and Shane are the first pair of Cornell goaltenders to have points in the same season since David LeNeveu and Matt Underhill each had one assist during the 2001-02 season. It is the fifth overall instance, also occurring during the 1980-81, 1990-91, and 1999-00 seasons.
 
MULTIPLE GOALTENDERS WITH POINTS IN SEASON
Cornell Program History
• 1980-81 (Darren Eliot & Brian Hayward – one assist each)
• 1990-91 (Jim Crozier & Corrie D’Alessio – one assist each)
• 1999-00 (Ian Burt & Matt Underhill – one assist each)
• 2001-02 (David LeNeveu & Matt Underhill – one assist each)
• 2024-25 (Ian Shane & Remington Keopple – one assist each)
 
• Shane and Keopple are the ninth pair of Division I goaltenders this season to have at least one point, joining AIC, Army, Boston University, LIU, Minnesota, Northeastern, RPI, and Western Michigan.
 
MULTIPLE GOALTENDERS WITH POINTS THIS SEASON
Division I Hockey
• AIC (Chase Clark & Adam Manji – one assist each)
• Army (JJ Cataldo & Jacob Biron – one assist each)
• Boston University (Mathieu Caron – three assists & Mikhail Yegorov – one assist)
• Cornell (Ian Shane & Remington Keopple – one assist each)
• LIU (Ty Outen – two assists & Noah Rupprecht – one assist)
• Minnesota (Nathan Airey & Liam Souliere – one assist each)
• Northeastern (Quentin Sigurdson & Cameron Whitehead – one assist each)
• RPI (Noah Giesbrecht & Jack Watson – one assist each)
• Western Michigan (Cameron Rowe & Hampton Slukynsky – one assist each)
 
• With his two-point night, Mack increased his career-long point streak to six games (3-8—11). Bancroft also upped his point streak to a season-long three games (4-3—7).
 
UP NEXT
Cornell will return to action next week when it hosts a first-round matchup to begin the 2025 ECAC Hockey Championship. The No. 6-seeded Big Red will host No. 11-seeded Yale (6-20-3, 5-14-3 ECAC Hockey) next weekend at Lynah Rink. The date and time for the contest will be announced at a later date.
 
Next weekend’s matchup between the Ivy League rivals will be the first time Cornell and Yale have met in the ECAC Hockey Championship since the Bulldogs defeated the Big Red 6-0 in the title game of the 2011 ECAC Hockey Championship in Atlantic City, N.J.
 
Cornell has a 6-2 record against Yale in conference tournament games and aims to break its two-game losing streak against the Bulldogs in the ECAC Tournament. In the last two playoff matchups, both of which came in ECAC Hockey Championship title games, Yale has outscored Cornell 11-0 and claimed ECAC Hockey Championship titles in 2009 and 2011.

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