Cornell Plasters Big Green, Captures Sixth ECAC Crown

Freshman goaltender Darren Eliot turned away 48 shots and co-captain Brock Tredway notched a goal and two assists, as the eighth-seeded Cornell hockey team upset Dartmouth, 5-1, to win its record-breaking sixth ECAC championship at the Boston Garden Saturday night.

The victory culminates an incredible success story for the Big Red, which becomes the first number eight seed to win the crown in the tournament's 19-year history. Sporting a 9-11 record with two games remaining, coach Dick Bertrand's charges topped Providence and Boston University to edge Maine for the final playoff spot, and then knocked off the tournament's top three seeds--Boston College, Clarkson and the Big Green--to cop the title.

Out of Control

Despite tallying three first-period goals, Cornell never appeared to control the contest. Instead, the potent Dartmouth attack, led by the Shaun Teevens-Ross Brownridge-Dennis Murphy line, dominated play, relentlessly unleashing drives on the Cornell net.

But Eliot, the tournament's Most Valuable Player, proved equal to all but one of the bullets, a Murphy blast early in the third period which narrowed Cornell's margin to 4-1.

The Oshawa, Ontario, native played a near-impeccable 60 minutes, never losing his poise despite taunts from the highly partisan Big Green crowd, and singlehandedly reversing the game's momentum several times.

Meanwhile, the Big Red created some scoring opportunities of its own, propelling 39 shots on Dartmouth netminder Bob Gaudet.

Tredway scored the initial marker on a length-of-the-ice breakaway, then fed linemate Jim Gibson moments later to put Cornell up by two at 13:57.

High Voltage

With just over three minutes remaining in the first stanza, the Big Red shocked the favorites again when a pileup just outside the crease knocked Gaudet on his back and the puck out to Brian Marrett, who flicked it home for a 3-0 lead.

But it was the fourth goal--just 58 seconds into the second period--which sealed Dartmouth's fate. Playing one man down as a result of a too-many-men-on-the-ice minor at 19:44 of the first, the Big Green took the ice fired up, hoping to kill the penalty and convert its momentum into goals.

Before the penalty expired, however, Cornell's John Olds found himself alone in the slot where he took a pass from Doug Berk and whisked the puck past Gaudet. ECAC NOTEBOOK: Cornell's victory gives it an automatic berth in the four-team NCAA tournament in Providence later this month. The other Eastern berth is decided as follows: the NCAA Eastern advisory committee met yesterday and will report to the four-member NCAA hockey committee with its findings today. The NCAA committee can award the berth to a team (perhaps Providence, Dartmouth or B.C.) or call for an elimination tournament with two, maybe even four teams. Harvard coach Billy Cleary is a member of both committees.... In the consolation game, Providence defeated Clarkson, 6-5, in overtime.