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NITRA, Slovakia — Playing against the reigning champions of the Tipos Extraliga, Slovakia's top professional hockey league, the Cornell University men's hockey team ended its four-game exhibition series with a 5-2 loss to HK Nitra in a heated match on Friday night at Nitra Arena.
Cornell finished its European tour with a record of 1 win and 3 losses, with all three losses coming against opponents playing in the country's most prestigious hockey league.
Standout senior goaltender Ian Shane started as goaltender for Cornell University and only played the first period for the Big Red. Sami Aitkallio, who played in two NHL games with the Colorado Avalanche, played one game each in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons and played 60 minutes as goaltender for Nitra.
During the first period, Cornell had a chance to take the lead on a slap shot from sophomore forward Ryan Walsh coming in from the left side of the right faceoff circle, but Aitkallio blocked it. After controlling a loose rebound, in transition David Okolicani fired a wrist shot from the far half-wall that was saved by Shane, but the rebound was converted by Sebastian Cederle, who tucked the puck into the net off the right post.
In the second period, rising third-year forward Dalton Bancroft had a golden opportunity to score early in the period when a pass from rising sophomore defenseman Ben Robertson deflected off the skate of a Nitra defender from the blue line, ultimately leading to a backdoor one-timer shot. Aitkallio made a cross-crease low blocker save to preserve Nitra's lead.
Bancroft's scoring chance heralded the offensive power of the period, with both teams combining for five goals. The first goal of the period was a shorthanded goal for the Big Red to tie the game at 1-1. Rising senior forward Jack O'Leary's shot off a breakaway was blocked by Aitkalio, but rising sophomore forward Jake Kraft grabbed the rebound to tie the game.
Nitra took the lead again soon after with a one-touch shot from Tomáš Hrnka in front of the Cornell goal, and Filip Buytek assisted the goal with a pass from the back of the Cornell goal.
Freshman forward Charlie Major tied the game with a power-play goal with 2:32 left in the second period. Major took a flick-of-the-wrist shot from the right faceoff circle, but it bounced off Aitkallio's glove and rolled slowly over the goal line.
Two goals in a 37-second span gave Nitra a 4-2 lead late in the second period. Milos Bubela gave Nitra their third lead with 1:07 left in the period when he one-touched a cross-ice pass from 17-year-old Tomáš Povezal from the left faceoff circle. With 30 seconds left in the period, Alex Cotton won an offensive zone faceoff and slotted a slap shot through traffic in front of Keopple to extend the home team's lead.
Freshman goalkeeper Justin Katz took over Cornell's goal in the third period and stopped every shot the opposition took.
Following an offensive outburst in the second period, both teams were stifled in the third, with the only score of the period coming from Vuvela, who fired a 185-foot shot into an empty Cornell goal with just under a minute and a half remaining.
Cornell had multiple chances to score in 6-on-4 situations just before Nitra's empty-net basket, but Aitkallio held on to keep the team's lead at two points.
For a detailed breakdown of Big Red's last three European exhibitions, see below.
EXHIBITION No. 1 (Sunday, August 11) • vs. HC SPARTA PRAHA
Cornell kicked off a series of exhibition matches in Europe with a 6-1 loss to HC Sparta Prague before a crowd of 3,431 at Sportovni Hala Fortuna in Prague, Czech Republic on Sunday, August 11. HC Sparta Prague fielded players from its “A” team, which competes in the Czech ExtraLeague, its junior team and HC Stadion Litoğniğice, which competes in the Maxaliga, the second-highest level of professional hockey in the Czech Republic.
Rising junior forward Dalton Bancroft scored the Big Red's lone goal in the third period, halting a five-game scoring streak by Sparta Prague. All three Cornell goalies – Shane, Keopple and Katz – played in goal for the Big Red.
Exhibit No. 2 (Tuesday, August 13) • Vs. Hokkeji University
The Big Red returned to action on Tuesday, defeating the Czech student-eligible top players 4-1 at Zimny Stadion Eden in Prague in the first of a two-match series in two days.
After the Czech collegiate club took a 1-0 lead in the first period, Cornell eventually scored four goals to take the victory.
Walsh sparked back-to-back goals for the Big Red with a laser-like wrist shot from the right faceoff circle that landed near the goaltender's shoulder.
Exhibition 3rd (Wednesday, August 14th) • Match against HC ENERGIE KARLOVY VARY
Cornell's final exhibition in the Czech Republic featured the Big Red taking on HC Energi Karlovy Vary with a score of 3-0 in favor of the hosts.
Karlovy Vary goalkeeper Petr Hammarczyk kept Karlovy Vary's goal scoreless, while David Moravec assisted the club's first two goals.
Cornell's goalkeeping duties were shared between Keopoulou, who started the match, and Shane.
next time
Big Red will return to Vienna, Austria, for another day of sightseeing before heading back to the United States on Sunday.
Cornell's next opponent will be on Saturday, Oct. 19, when it welcomes ECAC Hockey and Ivy League rival Princeton University for a preseason scrimmage. Puck drop is scheduled for 5 p.m. Single-game tickets for all 15 preseason and regular season games will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 8, subject to availability. Mini-tickets featuring the Harvard-Dartmouth game will go on sale at 10 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 7.
Fans can also purchase season ticket packages for the upcoming 2024-25 season through the Cornell Athletics ticket office at BigRedTix.com.
