| | March 21, 1981 | Cornell (19-11-1) |
| | NCAA First Round Game | Northern Michigan (--) |
| | Marquette |
| | Cornell | 1 1 2 - 4 |
| | Northern Michigan | 1 2 0 - 3 |
| |
| | Period | 1 |
| | 08:18 | Cor | Dan Duffy (Geoff Roeszler, Tim Strawman) |
| | 16:33 | NMU | Martin (Bozek, Schafhauser) |
| |
| | Period | 2 |
| | 13:13 | Cor | Joe Gallant (Roy Kerling) |
| | 15:27 | NMU | Hanson (Bozek, Fisher) |
| | 19:16 | NMU | pp | Bozek (Pyle, Fascoff) |
| |
| | Period | 3 |
| | 09:35 | Cor | Doug Berk (Jeff Baikie, John Olds) |
| | 14:18 | Cor | pp | John Olds (Joe Gallant, Jeff Baikie) |
| |
| | Saves |
| | Cor | W | Brian Hayward | 60:00 | 54 | x | 57 |
| | NMU | L | Poeschl | 59:00 | 31 | x | 35 |