Cornell Arrived in Lake Placid with two goals in mind ; win the national title and finish with an unblemished record . Both could be accomplished only by winning two games in the NCAA tournament . The Big Red received the top overall seed , an obvious choice as they were ( and remain as of 2019 ) the only team to reach the tournament without a loss . In the Semifinal they were pitted against a surprise entry , Wisconsin , who had defeated 2-time defending national champion Denver in the WCHA Tournament . Cornell was once more faced with a stellar performance by an opposing goalie , this time Wayne Ryan held the Big Red off of the scoresheet for 45 minutes before the relentless attack finally broke through . Wisconsin scored in the first to gain an early lead and then tried to hold back the much faster eastern team . Wisconsin was so dominated in the game that they could only muster 4 shots in the final 40 minutes but the superb play of Wayne Thomas kept the Badgers in the game until the very end . Cornell 's two third-period goals gave them a narrow margin of victory but it was enough to sent the Big Red into the Championship game
WCHA Tournament
1970 WCHA Men's Ice Hockey Tournament
1969–70 Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey season