Photo Credit Kelsey Lee-Violet Turtle Photography

AIC started their return to the ice in the second half of the season well. They got the first two goals through hard work and some nice timing. One of those goals came from veteran forward Eric Otto, who potted his first marker since the November series against Air Force. Head Coach Eric Lang said that “The ice was hard that’s when 12 plays his best. He was one of only a few bright spots tonight.”

On how Cornell put together a five goal second period, Lang talked about the play in front of Jarrett Fiske and more. “ They have been good in the 2nd period all year. We had a bunch of self inflicted wounds. The next guys after we have the puck can’t be them unless it’s deposited in the right areas. We paid a heavy price for that tonight. We needed a save in the second period. We weren’t great in front of him but we needed a save or two to stabilize us.”

Casey McDonald made his debut tonight and Lang thought that “Casey is going to be very good for us. It’s good for him to get his feet wet tonight.”

Lang summed up the night well by saying “Cornell is an NCAA tournament team. That’s who we want to play and we have to put ourselves in a position to win the game. When you are up 2-0 it’s preposterous to think you are going to give up 8 goals.Good news is we get 4 even strength goals on a team that doesn’t give up even strength goals.” AIC hung with Cornell for points in this game but after giving up the two goal lead it seemed like for every one nice shift they had, Cornell found an answer five times over. When you get outshot 34-12 and have a night littered with turnovers in the neutral zone, bad times are typically the result. Cornell earned the win, and now we once again get to see how AIC can fight back tomorrow night in a series finale that sets them up for a date with UMASS Lowell at home next weekend.

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