A group of recently unionized Ithaca Coffee Company employees has decided to cancel an election that could have allowed them to collectively bargain with the company, in favor of a "community campaign."

On a weekend when the sports world was focused on the hockey greats playing in the Canada-USA gold medal game, the focus at Lynah Rink was on honoring the legends of Cornell hockey. With a 4-1 win over Union on Friday and a 1-1 tie with RPI on Saturday, this year’s edition of the Red finished the season in second place in the ECAC and will have a bye in the first round of the playoffs as it seeks to cement its own spot in the Cornell hockey traditions.

After a split weekend, the No. 9 men’s hockey is looking to rebound as it faces one of its most grueling and emotional weekends –– its final two games of the regular season. With both teams tied for second place in the ECAC standings, Cornell faces off against Union tonight. Tomorrow, Rensselaer comes to town with a determined presence, as the Engineers are vying for a first-round bye for playoffs.

After suffering its first losing streak of the season in a two-game sweep at the Florida College Classic, No. 9 the men’s hockey team rebounded with a convincing 5-2 win over the University of New Hampshire on Jan. 3.

The No. 10 women’s hockey team is up to a four-game winning streak after a weekend away from Ithaca. The Red (4-2, 4-0 ECAC Hockey) first played a shutout game against Union (2-8, 0-3) with a score of 4-0 on Friday, followed by a 3-1 victory over Rensselaer (3-6-3, 1-2-1) the next day.

While celebrating Senior Night, the last regular season game of the year, with a 5-2 win over Union, the men’s hockey team also ensured that it will return to Lynah Rink once more this season for a quarterfinal matchup in the ECAC Hockey tournament. With the victory, Cornell is guaranteed a first-round bye in the tournament and no lower than the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.

On a night to recognize the eight graduating seniors on the Cornell roster, it was rising junior center Riley Nash who put on an offensive show. He racked up two goals and two assists and seemed to be at the center of most of the Red’s chances on offense.

While celebrating Senior Night, the last regular season game of the year, with a 5-2 win over Union, the men’s hockey team also ensured that it will return to Lynah Rink once more this season for a quarterfinal matchup in the ECAC Hockey tournament. With the victory, Cornell is guaranteed a first-round bye in the tournament and no lower than the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament.

On a night to recognize the eight graduating seniors on the Cornell (17-6-4, 12-5-3 ECAC Hockey) roster, it was sophomore center Riley Nash who put on an offensive show. He racked up two goals and two assists and seemed to be at the center of most of the Red’s chances on offense.

After successfully securing a position in the ECAC playoffs, the Red (11-11-5, 7-8-5 ECAC) hits the road for its last games of the regular season, competing against RPI today before traveling to Union tomorrow.

With Rensselaer (14-13-4, 9-8-3 ECAC) just two points ahead of Cornell in the ECAC standings, the Red is hoping to demonstrate its powerful offensive talent in order to halt the Engineers. RPI’s lead scorers are junior forward Whitney Naslund and freshman forward Alisa Harrison, who are tied at 26 points apiece.

In comparison, sophomore forward Rebecca Johnston leads Cornell with 40 points, consisting of 22 goals and 18 assists. Additionally, freshman forward Catherine White is not too far behind with 38 points from 15 goals and 23 assists.

Heading into its final two home games of the 2008-09 regular season, the men’s hockey team has lost three contests in a row to ECAC Hockey foes, its longest losing streak in a year. Also, the lauded Red defense gave up nine goals in two games last weekend. But the way the team is talking, one probably could not guess that it is seemingly in the middle of a late-season collapse.

It’s time for the men’s hockey team to get down to business; the Red will end the non-conference part of its season and face off against Union tonight in Schenectady.

It will finish up the weekend against another central New York team, Rensselaer.

Cornell (11-1-3, 6-0-2 ECAC Hockey) has not lost in eight games; the Red went 7-0-1 during that time span. The last time the team lost was on November 11 at the University of North Dakota.

Cornell is ranked second in the ECAC Hockey League behind Princeton. Union (11-8-1, 4-4-0) is seventh and Rensselaer (4-15-2,3-5-1), is eighth. Union evened its conference record last weekend with impressive wins over Princeton and Quinnipiac.