ITHACA, N.Y.—Cornell dominated play right from the start, limiting Harvard to 20 shots on goal and using physical play to win many battles for the puck to earn a 6-3 win.

The victory was Cornell’s fifth straight and avenged its 4-3 loss at Harvard back in November, when the Big Red squandered a late 3-2 lead.

With a sellout crowd of 3,836 packing raucous Lynah Rink , emotions ran high all night long and finally boiled over in the game’s final minutes with a melee at the 18:33 mark. The brawl ended with roughing calls and 10-minute misconducts assessed to every player on the ice, capping a frustrating night for Harvard.

“I thought we got beat by a better hockey team tonight,” Mazzoleni said. “From the opening faceoff they had the on-puck intensity they needed to win. They played their dump-and-chase game to a ‘T.’”

Early in the game, the Big Red jumped out to a 1-0 advantage when junior winger Sam Paolini pounced on a rebound in front of the net and put it home at the 5:26 mark.

Cornell opened up a two-goal lead at 11:43 when junior winger Shane Palahicky skated in from the corner and backhanded a shot past Crimson goaltender Dov Grumet-Morris.

“With the energy that they get from their crowd you want to [start the game] without getting scored on—or at least come out even—and they were up 2-0 on us,” Mazzoleni said. “They know how to handle a lead. They play so well defensively that when they get up on you it’s very hard to play catch-up on them. They didn’t let up at all.”

After the Big Red carried nearly all of the play in the first period, the opening of the second period was more balanced. Neither team was able to maintain the puck in its attack zone through much of the period.

However, the pace of play picked up with about seven minutes left and Cornell extended its lead to 3-0 on a wrister from junior center Matt McRae with 5:36 to play.

Harvard finally got on the board when sophomore winger Dennis Packard redirected a shot from the point by classmate Kenny Smith that went past Big Red goaltender Matt Underhill with 2:42 to go in the period. The goal went into the books as an even-strength tally, although Cornell defenseman Doug Murray was just stepping out of the box as the puck crossed the line.

But as soon as Harvard closed the gap, the Big Red took another three-goal lead on a wrister by Krzyzstof Wieckowski heading into the second intermission.

Cornell maintained momentum as the third period opened, continuing to sustain its possessions in the Crimson zone and making it 5-1 on a rebound by winger Denis Ladouceur just 2:15 into the frame.

Harvard closed the deficit less than two minutes later on a nifty behind-the-net shot by junior center Dominic Moore that bounced off the back of Underhill’s skate and into the cage with 15:52 to go in the game.

The goal seemed to add some spring to the Crimson’s stride, but Harvard wouldn’t draw any closer the rest of the way. In fact, Cornell once again made it a four-goal game with 6:21 to play on Paolini’s second goal of the night.

Later that period, Harvard was assessed a bench minor penalty when Mazzoleni banged a stick on the boards that eventually landed on the ice in front of the Crimson bench. He was attempting to get the attention of referee Tim Kotyra and question the non-call of an apparent charging penalty committed by Paolini on Capouch.