Minus Jaden Schwartz again, CC roughed up by Cornell

For Colorado College, the numbers tell the whole story. Four goals scored, as well as a 1-for-10 effort on the power play in the past three games. That’s not a recipe for success.

Jaden Schwartz is finally back in town. And his teammates need him more than ever.

A normally potent offense has become anemic, and a typically explosive power play has turned sluggish – too much for the Tigers to overcome Friday minus their second-leading point producer, as No. 6 CC was battered in a 3-1 loss to No. 13 Cornell at World Arena.

Schwartz has missed the past month playing at the world junior championships in Canada – and he could have dressed after flying to Colorado Springs from Calgary. However, he admittedly was drained by a long day of travel, and not forcing him back into the lineup creates a chance he’ll be able to go Saturday, likely on the fourth line and the power play.

Without Schwartz, CC (12-7) suffered only its third setback of the season on an Olympic-size ice sheet, taken out of its comfort zone by a physical team that controlled the tempo, won the battles on the walls and grabbed almost every loose puck in the corners. The Big Red (9-4-1) locked down in the neutral zone, while limiting open-ice rushes and keeping most tries by CC to the outside – reasons why they have the nation’s top-rated defense.

“We didn’t move our legs real well,” said CC coach Scott Owens, whose team suffered a weekend-opening home defeat for the third consecutive time. “We got behind on a good defensive team, which is what you don’t want to do. … We had trouble finishing. We were lacking bite early. We’re just struggling a little bit to finish – to finish off plays.”

The Tigers weren’t in unfamiliar territory facing a bruising squad from the ECAC, having swept the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on the road in October and beaten Union last weekend. But Cornell, now 8-2-1 in its past 11 games, leads the ECAC, and on a night in which CC held a 40-24 shot edge and went 1 for 4 on the power play, Andy Iles (9-4-1) outplayed Josh Thorimbert (7-3) in making 30 saves in the second and third periods.

Iles received all the support he needed in first-period goals from Locke Jillson and John McCarron, a top-line freshman who marked for the first time in his career. CC’s top unit of Archie Skalbeck, Rylan Schwartz and William Rapuzzi – Jaden Schwartz is expected to later replace Skalbeck at left wing – combined for seven shots, although CC had just two shots in a 5-on-3 situation in the second, when Rylan Schwartz was stuffed, and Iles thwarted Skalbeck, David Civitarese and Scott Winkler from the slot in the third.

“Any time you get a 5-on-3, you almost need to score,” said Nick Dineen, who had CC’s lone goal on the power play in the third, pulling CC within 2-1 before Greg Miller had an empty-netter with 7 seconds left. “We got a little bit of momentum off of it. At the same time, we needed a goal. It would have been a huge goal. But their goalie played well.”

CORNELL 3, COLORADO COLLEGE 1

Cornell                         2          0          1 – 3

Colorado College       0          0          1 – 1

First period – 1. Cornell, Jillson 2 (Mowrey), 9:39. 2. Cornell, McCarron 1 (unassisted), 18:18. Penalties – Lowry, Cornell (roughing), 0:04. Rapuzzi, CC (roughing), 0:04.

Second – None. Penalties – Marciano, CC (hooking), 0:40. D’Agostino, Cornell (cross-checking), 6:09. Ross, Cornell (interference), 6:25. D’Agostino, Cornell (hooking), 12:01.

Third – 3. CC, Dineen 11 (Guentzel, R. Schwartz), 2:34 (pp). 4. Cornell, Miller 5 (Axell, Ryan), 19:52 (en). Penalties – Cornell, too many players on the ice, 1:26. Dineen, CC (cross-checking), 18:27. Esposito, Cornell (roughing), 18:40. Ferlin, Cornell (holding), 18:40. McDermott, CC (roughing), 18:40.

Shots on goal – Cornell 8-11-5-24. CC 9-16-15-40. Power-play opportunities – Cornell 0 of 2. CC 1 of 4. Goalies – Cornell, Iles 9-16-14 (40 shots-39 saves). CC, Thorimbert 6-11-4 (23-21). Attendance – 6,133. Time – 2:18. Referees – Pete Friesema, Butch Mousseaux. Linesmen – Bob Keltie, Stephen Stankevich.

Contact Brian Gomez: 719-636-0256 or brian.gomez@gazette.com. Facebook: Brian Gomez. Twitter: @gazettehockey. Google+: Brian Gomez. YouTube: Colorado College Hockey, Covered by The Gazette. For the CC hockey homepage, visit www.gazette.com/sections/sports/cchockey. For the CC hockey blog, visit http://cchockey.freedomblogging.com.