But when one his assistants, who he hoped would take over the helm, left to coach Princeton’s hockey team, he felt he couldn’t leave just yet.

“I knew I had a year left in me,” Schafer said.

And so far, it’s looking like he made the right choice.

One day after knocking off the top-seeded Quinnipiac Bobcats, Schafer’s sixth-seeded Big Red defeated the Clarkson Golden Knights, the second seed, 3-1 to claim its second straight ECAC hockey title, and 14th all-time.

Cornell’s Hoyt Stanley, left, and Clarkson’s Ayrton Martino smile while battling for the puck during Saturday’s ECAC hockey championship game. (Provided photo — Lou Reuter

Half of those championships have been under Schafer who will officially call it quits following the conclusion of this season. His first two titles came in his first two seasons, nearly 30 years ago.

“And now I’ve won my last two, with a lot of s*** in between,” he joked.

When Schafer lifted the Whitelaw Cup, he turned and handed over to his longtime friend and associate coach, Casey Jones, who will take over the program next season.

For Jones, winning the ECAC crown was bitter-sweet. For the past 13 season prior to this year Jones was the head coach at Clarkson. But last June, he stepped down to return to his alma mater with the goal of taking over the reigns in 2025-26.

“It was really difficult for him,” Schafer said. “He had put his heart and soul into Clarkson University for 13 years and it was obviously really difficult for him to leave and come to Cornell, because he’s a coach that puts everything into it. They have a great team, and they’re here not only because they have a great coaching staff, but they’re here because of Casey and the other coaches that came before them.”

Clarkson’s Shawn O’Donnell, left, fights for the puck with Cornell’s Ian Shane (30), Kyler Kovich (18) and Ben Robertson (21) during Saturday’s ECAC hockey championship game. (Provided photo — Lou Reuter

Jones was proud to see Clarkson in the championship, but admitted that it was hard to give some of his former players hugs in the post-game handshake.

“It’s a tough loss when you lose in the championship, but there’s a lot of good relationships there,” he said. “There’s a lot of players that I really care about as people, but they’re in a good spot (with their new coach).”

While Schafer’s time as the head coach of the Cornell will live on for at least one more game, Jones said it’ll be tough act to follow in footsteps next year.

“He’s left a legacy that he’s built outside of hockey,” Jones said. “People only see the wins, but what he does in the community, what he does for fundraising, what he does for community service. I can’t imagine somebody else in the country with a better resume. He’s been unbelievable for what he has done with Ithaca and for Cornell hockey.”

Cornell’s Ondrej Psenicka scored one goal, and assisted on the other two, while teammate Nick DeSantis had a goal and an assist. Ryan Walsh netted an empty-netter in the final minutes of the third period. Jonathan Castagna chipped in two assists for the Big Red, which secured the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.

Cornell goaltender Ian Shane, who was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, recorded 30 saves in the win.

“Clarkson is a really good team and we knew they were going to come out strong, but I trusted that my guys were going to do their job in the offensive zone,” Shane said. “It kind of lets me have a little confidence, and calm down a little bit on my end. I know that If I slow things down it’s going to give my guys a chance to breath and hopefully take the puck back the other way.”

The Big Red connected on two of its first three shots in the first period, with Psenicka netting a pass from Castagna, before Psenicka ignited a 2-on-1 break that ended with DeSantis finding the back of the net to give Cornell a 2-0 advantage.

Clarkson made the score 2-1 in the second period when Eric Bargholtz poked at a loose rebound that deflected off Shane’s glove and into the net. But the Golden Knights couldn’t keep up with the Big Red defense.

The Golden Knights closed out their first year under JF Houle with a 24-12-3 record. They defeated Dartmouth 4-1 in the semifinal on Friday.

Clarkson’s assistant captain Kaelan Taylor, a graduate student, was one of the many who capped off their career with the University on Saturday.

Taylor, who has family that grew up in Bloomingdale — from his father’s side — held back emotions during his press conference. Downstairs were around 15 of his family members, waiting to see him.

For Taylor, who grew in California, seeing those supporters after a game in Lake Placid is one things that he’ll miss the most about playing for Clarkson.

“Growing up in California, I never thought this would be possible,” he said. “Then when the day came that I realized that I could actually go here, the amount of support that I’ve had, and what it means to be a Golden Knight. I wouldn’t trade these five years for anything.”

Up next, Cornell (18-10-6) will compete in the opening round of the NCAA tournament against the Michigan State Spartans at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday in Toledo, Ohio. Qunnipiac will take on the UConn Huskies in their first round at 5 p.m. on Friday in Allentown, Pennsylvania.