This article is part of The Sun's 2024 NCAA Hockey Supplement. Click here to view the rest of the supplement.
On Saturday, men's hockey defeated St. Lawrence 3-1 to lift the Whitelaw Cup for the first time in 14 years.
On Sunday, the team gathered at Lina Rink to watch the NCAA Hockey Tournament Selection Show. The show gave the Reds their national championship fate, including their regional position and first-round opponents.
On Monday, the team practiced, scouted its next opponent, No. 6 Maine, and did some school work.
On Tuesday, the Red departed for Springfield, Massachusetts.
“[The championship] It hasn’t fully sunk in yet,” junior defenseman Hank Kemp said.
It will be full speed ahead for Cornell, which will face Maine State in Thursday's Northeast Regional semifinal, the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
“It's kind of a tremendous challenge trying to prepare three teams in a day and a half,” said head coach Mike Schaefer '86. “We're really trying to get ready for Maine.”
Kemp added: [have] This is another big opportunity. ”
Cornell University (21-6-6 ECAC, 12-6-4), which earned an automatic bid to the national tournament, is the No. 3 seed in the Springfield area and 12th overall.
“We have to get through Maine first. That's the biggest challenge,” Schaefer said. “They're good at transitions, [and] They are very stingy defensively. [They have] good goaltending [and] Great special teams. ”
The University of Maine (23-11-2 Hockey East, 14-9-1 Hockey East) lost to Boston University in the Hockey East semifinals. The Black Bears, ranked fifth pairwise, received an at-large bid and are the No. 2 seed in Springfield.
“I think it’s a great matchup for us,” Kemp said. “They play a similar game to us. … They have a really good power play and seem like a pretty structured team.”
The Black Bears win four of their last five games and advance to the NCAA Tournament. In three of those games, Maine held opponents to fewer than 20 shots.
Maine only has the 23rd best power play in the nation on paper, but the Black Bears were deadly on the man advantage late in the game. Maine hasn't had a game without a goal on the power play since Feb. 24 and has scored at a rate of 42.1 percent since then.
Cornell's penalty kill is middling in the nation, just shy of 80 percent, but it has allowed just one point on the penalty kill in its last five games. The Reds' penalty kill will be put to the test, with help from junior goaltender Ian Shane, who led Cornell to the fewest points allowed in a game.
“We have to keep them from going on the power play, which means controlling the stick and playing disciplined,” Schaefer said. “They have some [smaller] They are the kind of players who are given a lot of penalties, so we have to control ourselves against those players. ”
One of Maine's smaller but powerful forwards is Josh Nadeau, a 5-foot-8 forward who plays alongside his twin brother Bradley. The two freshmen dominated for the Black Bears, racking up nearly identical total points (Josh 45, Bradley 46) and point totals (Josh 18, Bradley 19).
The Twins' 91 goals account for 31 percent of Maine's offensive output this year.
“Their top line is one of the best top lines we've ever seen,” Schaefer said.
Maine has risen from the Hockey East Conference, which has been particularly strong this season. In addition to Maine, three other Hockey East teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament, including the nation's top team, Boston College.
Learn more about the other 15 teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Cornell has played and won twice this season against Hockey East opponents. The first was against a formidable rival, No. 2 Boston College, which the Reds defeated 2-1 on Nov. 25 at Madison Square Garden.
Red also eclipsed then-No. The No. 11 University of Massachusetts, the fourth-seeded team from the Springfield area, faced off in a penalty shootout at the Adirondack Winter Invitational held in Lake Placid on December 29th.
“What you get when you play UMass and BU. [an advantage] Because we look at what the University of Massachusetts and BU did for Maine,” Schaefer said. “[We can] See what works and what we did.
However, both teams are in a different situation than they were at the beginning of the season.
“They're a better hockey team, but we're a much better hockey team day and night than we were in November and December,” Schaefer said. “We can only speak for ourselves, but we are also pretty stingy defensively right now.”
The other semifinal in Springfield will pit defending NCHC champion Denver against Massachusetts. If Cornell advances to the regional final, it will face one of two teams it is already familiar with.
“Denver hasn’t changed, they [have a] We're playing a very similar style and doing a lot of similar things to how we played last year,” Schaefer said, referring to last year's regional semifinal matchup between his team and Denver, where Cornell won 2-0. He said he was overwhelmed during the process.
added Kemp, who lost to Boston University in the regional final last season.[Against] BU, I'm a little lost. …There wasn't much of a “temporarily” thing. [mentality] what we had [against Denver]. I think that's what we have to learn from experience. ”
Maine is currently on the record, but could qualify for the Frozen Four if he moves past the Black Bears. This is an amazing feat that Schafer has accomplished only once during his 29-year tenure as head coach with the Reds.
“We have a history of getting through the first round but not getting through the second round,” Schaefer said. “It’s very difficult to win and acquire that.” [to the Frozen Four]”
Despite its youthful membership, Cornell is confident the group can get Schaefer over that jump.
“[In] Other years we were right on the brink. [to the Frozen Four]'' Schaefer said. “It's just [important to] Keep experiencing things like Lake Placid. We didn't play that well against Harvard last year.And we're fortunate that we were able to take the next step this year and we have to do the same in the NCAA [tournament]”
