John McCarron
With the men’s hockey team trailing by two goals in the third period, senior John McCarron scored twice to secure a 2-2 tie for the Big Red on Friday against RPI, as his second came with an empty net for an extra attacker and just 32.8 seconds remaining in the contest.
McCarron’s first tally came only 3 minutes and 31 seconds into the final period, igniting a spark under Cornell, who outscored Rensselaer 2-0 in the third. On the power play, senior Cole Bardreau received a pass along the blue line from sophomore Jake Weidner and then fed a wide-open McCarron in the high slot. The captain buried a shot past RPI goaltender Jason Kasdorf and into the top left corner of the goal to cut the Big Red’s deficit in half.
After sophomore goalie Mitch Gillam was sent to the bench for an extra skater, McCarron struck again, as Cornell desperately searched for the equalizer. The scoring play began when a shot from senior Jacob MacDonald was blocked in front of the net, but the puck bounced right to McCarron on the top of the right circle. He gained possession and immediately fired a quick shot into the top, near side of the goal to knot up the game for good.
Following the team’s 2-1 victory against Union on Saturday, the Big Red clinched home ice advantage for the first round of the ECAC Hockey Championships. Cornell still has an opportunity to crack the top four, while sitting only three points back from fourth place.
The Big Red will return to action for the last two regular season games, as the squad hits the road for a 7 p.m. faceoff with Brown on Friday and a 7 p.m. start against Yale on Saturday night.
Lindsay Toppe
The reigning Ivy League Attacker of the Year, senior co-captain Lindsay Toppe, recorded five goals and an assist to lead the women’s lacrosse team over previously undefeated Temple, 17-8.
Despite miserable field conditions that caused the game to be called with 7 minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the second half, the Big Red earned its 300th victory in program history on Saturday.
With her outstanding performance, Toppe moved into ninth place on the Cornell all-time point list with 138 and asserted herself in seventh on the program’s all-time goals list with 110.
Toppe got involved in the offense from the opening whistle with her only assist of the contest. She intercepted a pass on an Owl’s clear and found sophomore Catherine Ellis on the crease for a great finish just 21 seconds into the game. Toppe also played a key role in the Big Red’s three-goal swing to end the first half, as she capped off the run with a score to extend Cornell’s lead to five at the break.
The Big Red will move on to play its home opener at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon against Albany at Schoellkopf Field.
Matt Donovan
Senior Matt Donovan led the men’s lacrosse team with five goals, including two in a crucial 7-1 run for the Big Red in the second quarter to help lift the squad over Hobart 16-8 on Friday evening.
Donovan scored early in Cornell’s second quarter stretch with an unassisted tally to put the team up by three goals. He then found the back of the net for a buzzer-beater at halftime, which gave the Big Red an 11-5 lead and capped off the surge, allowing Cornell to pull away and never look back.
The victory marked the program’s 11th straight against the Statesmen, which is the longest winning streak by either side in the two teams’ 136 meetings.
Donovan also helped the Big Red defeat Binghamton 17-10 on Tuesday with another impressive five-goal outing. Cornell will now travel to Texas for a matchup with No. 8 Albany at Ford Field on the SMU campus in Dallas. The faceoff is scheduled for noon on Saturday, as the teams are expected to play in front of more than 8,000 fans.
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