The Cornell Men’s Hockey team took on the Patriotes from the University of Quebec Trois-Rivieres (UQTR) Thursday night at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, NY.

Only 52 seconds in, the Big Red stated their dominance on the ice with a goal by Tyler Roeszler, assisted by Dustin Mowrey. The early goal set the tone for the entire first period. Cornell’s passing and puck handling was much smoother than that of UQTR throughout.

Playing aggressively on the defensive end, the Patriotes were whistled for two penalties early in the first period. The first power-play did not produce any goals from Cornell, but the second led to a goal by Joe Devin, assisted by Tyler Wasler and Greg Miller, giving the Red a 2-0 lead with five minutes remaining in the first period.

Frustrated and unable to score UQTR started a fight near their goal. One player from Quebec lost their helmet and another, Alexandre Demers, was penalized for two minutes for hitting after the whistle was blown.

The Big Red capitalized on their man-up opportunity and scoring a pair of goals despite sophomore defender Nick D’Agostino’s presence in the penalty box. When D’Agostino returned to the ice, he tacked on another score giving the Red a 5-0 lead and sending the Lynah Faithful into a frenzy as the first period came to a close.

Cornell goalie Michael Garman had 17 saves in the opening session and UQTR goalie Vince Lamontagne’s 10.

The momentum changed hands the second period though as the Patriotes displayed a much more aggressive attack. Etienne Bellavance-Martin scored at the 8:11 mark, cutting the Cornell lead to four. Meanwhile the Red weren’t able to net a goal of their own and the second period ended with the Red still leading 5-1. While the Red dominated the puck in the first period, UQTR contolled the second, attempting 23 shots to Cornell’s 19.

The third period looked much more like the first period. Cornell was back to passing well and playing like a cohesive unit, but a Patriotes power play led to a Alexandre Demers goal, pulling UQTR within three. Another quick goal made the score 5-3 halfway through the final period.

Cornell retaliated with what looked like a goal to onlookers, but after the goal was reviewed and it was said that the puck never crossed, keeping the Red lead at two. It seemed that the debated goal may have spurred a change in the Big Red and the crowd because not too long after a “safety school” chant was started by members of the student section and freshman forward Armand De Swardt, scored his first career goal, assisted by sophomore defender Braden Birch.

With two minutes left in regulation another chant came from the student section: “Warm up the cars!” Cornellians and townies shook their keys for the final two minutes of the game to let UQTR know it was time to head back home.

The Patriotes again looked frustrated on the ice as Pierre-Alexandre Joncas was penalized for tripping, allowing the Big Red to finish off the game a man-up.

The final score was 6-3 and even though it was only an exhibition game and would not count towards either teams record, both played with heart and making for a very exciting game.