ESTERO, FL. – As the saying goes “he w ho laughs last… ” The Saint Cloud State Huskies found themselves trailing Cornell University 3-0 late in the second period in the opener of the Florida College Classic. The Huskies dominated the early going out shooting Cornell 10-1 in the opening six minutes.
But a power play goal by Joe Devin at 5:59 gave Cornell the early lead and Mathieu Brisson added the only other goal of the period less than three minutes later.
“We were out skating them but we could not get anything to go in” Huskie Coach Bob Motzko said. “The guys kept working on and I felt like the first goal was a turning point.”
Ben Hanowski’s goal at 17:52 of the second got the Huskies on the board en root to three unanswered goals of their own.
The Huskies had a 5 on 3 for 1:21 to open the third period when Brisson went off for tripping at the 30 second mark. But Cornell’s penalty killing unit has been one of their few bright spots so far this year and with the help of some key saves from goalie Michael Garman the Big Red killed off both infractions.
“I kept telling the guys we are going to win this game” sophomore forward David Eddy said.
The Big Red eventually got careless in their zone and Cam Reid brought the Huskies closer when he took advantage of a giveaway in the Big Red zone. Eddy tied the score on a tip at 1231 of the third and setup overtime.
“It was kind of a pass shot” Eddy said “all I had to do was redirect it.”
The Huskies dominated the overtime and Cam Reid brought the Huskies all the way back when he beat Garman with a shot from the high slot at 2:21.
The loss snapped Cornell’s three game winning streak and sent the Huskies to the tournament championship game.
“You would like to think a win like this could be a turning point” Motzko said.
“It would big a big left for us to beat one of the top ranked teams in the country” Eddy also said.
The Huskies will face either #6 Miami or #9 Maine in the tournament championship game pending the outcome of today’s second game.
Contact: joe.malta@prohockeynews.com
You must be logged in to post a comment.