Galajda picks up shutout as Cornell defeats Boston University at MSG

For the seventh time, Red Hot Hockey came to The World’s Most Famous Arena but with a different feel to it. The Cornell Big Red entered Saturday’s game ranked number two and undefeated at 8-0-0, their best start in 48 years. Their opponents Boston University was trying to get back on track after going 1-2-1 over their last four outings.

Cornell continued their stellar start to the season with a 2-0 victory over Boston University at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Cornell junior goalie Matthew Galajda stopped all 28 shots he faced for his first shutout of the current campaign. The Big Red remained undefeated through nine games.

The first period featured just 15 total shots combined as Boston University was aggressive from the opening puck drop. Galajda stopped all ten Terrier shots as Cornell held down the fort defensively through the first 20 minutes. The period ended in a scoreless tie.

Cornell (9-0-0) came out aggressive in the second period putting pressure on Boston University at every turn. Sam Tucker was turning away all of the Big Red’s shots, but the defense could not hold any longer at the 7:39 mark of the period. Michael Regush scored on a rebound past Tucker to give Cornell the 1-0 advantage. Twenty seconds later, Brenden Locke scored his fourth goal of the season to extend the lead to 2-0.

The latter half of the period featured the tide turning as BU began to apply pressure to Cornell. Similar to the first period, Galajda continued his stellar play stopping all 12 of BU’s shots to keep them scoreless through the second period. The Big Red outshot Boston University 14-12 in the period that featured successful penalty kills from each team.

The third period was a defensive battle, as both teams played conservatively throughout. Boston University (4-6-5) tried to get into the offensive zone, but Cornell’s defense continued to step up.

Patrick Curry (BU) and Sebastian Dirven (Cornell) were each sent to the box for roughing at 11:28 of the third. This put the teams at 4-on-4 until Patrick Harper was sent to the box as well at 12:49 for holding. The Terriers were able to kill the penalties and keep the deficit at 2-0.

With 2:06 remaining in regulation, BU pulled Tucker. It was to no avail as they were unable to score with the extra skater as Cornell picked up their 25th win over the BU in the series history.

“Sometimes you lose and you feel like you’ve really lost. We felt like … we can take a lot out of how we played,” said BU head coach Albie O’Connell.

The game drew 15,142, another great showing for the Red Hot Hockey series at MSG.

3 Stars

1st Star- Matthew Galajda (Cornell): 28 shots faced, 28 saves
2nd Star- Brenden Locke (Cornell): 1 goal, +1 rating
3rd Star- Alex Brink (Boston University): 2 shots on goal