Ice hockey ties Cornell to close 2022

ITHACA, New York – The American International College ice hockey team earned a 3-3 tie against Cornell University at Lynah Rink to close out the 2022 calendar year on Friday, December 30.

AIC moves to 10-8-5 on the season.

The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 1-0 lead as Casey McDonald won a battle behind the net and moved the puck up the wall to Brian Kramer. He and Oscar Geschwind exchanged the puck around the blue line before Kramer cut to the netfront, beating several defenders and then the goalkeeper for his third of the year at 2:00. The assist for McDonald was his first collegiate point.

AIC then doubled the lead on a turnover as Nicholas Cardelli swiped the puck along the goal line in the Big Red zone and was able to deposit his ninth of the year at 3:44.

Cornell cut the lead back to one on a goal by Nick DeSantis at 7:25, but the Yellow Jackets held the hosts off from there through the end of the period. The second period went by without any scoring, with a particularly impressive final minute of defending to keep AIC on top.

In the third, the lead returned to two, as Cardelli set up Timofei Khokhlachev for his second of the weekend and fifth of the season just 1:10 into the period. That proved critical, as a plethora of penalty calls put AIC on its heels; Cornell converted one of the four called prior to the media timeout. They were able to score as well with the extra attacked at 18:50.

AIC had chances in the overtime, including a two-on-one by Luis Lindner, but the goalkeepers kept a combined seven pucks out to end the game as a draw.

The teams had a shootout, per NCAA rules, although with the game being nonconference it did not count for anything; Cornell won that 2-0.

Alexandros Aslanidis was strong in the net, stopping 31 shots.

The calendar will flip to 2023 before AIC plays again; the Yellow Jackets host the University of Massachusetts-Lowell on January 7 at 1:05 p.m. Tickets are available at the MassMutual Center box office or at www.aictix.com.