ALBANY, N.Y. -- The polls say they're No. 1. The stats say they're No. 1. Even the NCAA Tournament seedings say they're No. 1.

	Cornell goalie Dave LeNeveu (26-2-1) is a Hobey Baker finalist.

But those numbers won't mean anything if the Cornell Big Red (28-4-1) don't advance to the Frozen Four for the first time since 1980. They fell just shy last season when a goal with 2:39 left in the third period gave UNH a 4-3 win and trip to the national semifinals, sending Cornell back to Ithaca still looking for its first national championship since 1970.

"They have all the elements of a championship team," said Brown coach Roger Grillo, whose team managed a 2-2 tie against Cornell on Feb. 14. "They're really difficult to get rolling against because they're strong, they skate well, they're extremely disciplined and fundamentally they do everything right.

"To beat them you're going to have to be extremely patient, create some opportunities and skate. If you try to play their game against them, you're not going to beat them."

Cornell, which is unbeaten in its last 14 games (13-0-1), opened tournament play with a 5-2 victory against MSU-Mankato (20-11-10) at the East Regional (Providence) on Saturday. The Big Red will face the Boston College-Ohio State winner in the regional final Sunday.

"Our goal is to get to the Frozen Four and we like our chances," Cornell coach Mike Schafer said. "We've worked hard all year to get a No. 1 seed."

If the Big Red is going to take the first step and advance to Buffalo, they'll rely heavily on their stingy defense, which starts with sophomore goaltender David LeNeveu, who is 26-2-1. The ECAC Co-Player of the Year and Hobey Baker finalist leads the nation in goals against average (1.13) and save percentage (.943).

He also set a school record by recording nine shutouts this season. The previous mark was six, set back in 1967-68 by Hall of Famer Ken Dryden.

"David is great in all situations," Schafer said. "He doesn't see many shots for long periods of time and then he has to face one and he's got tremendous focus and concentration. Then there's nights we don't play as well in front of him or we face a team that generates more scoring chances and he's there. I think that's what makes him special."

But LeNeveu, the ECAC's goaltender of the year, isn't the only thing that makes the Cornell defense special. There's also 6-foot-3, 240-pound defenseman Doug Murray, a first-team All-America selection last year and the ECAC's top defenseman this season. And 6-5, 235-pound captain Stephen Bâby, who was named the league's top defensive forward.

And 16 other players who have bought into the philosophy of defense first by cutting down their opponents' time and space all over the ice.

"Team defense is really our team philosophy," Bâby said. "It starts with Dave in net and moves forward. And it's not just in our zone. It is backchecking and eliminating errors and odd-man rushes. And we feel that defense can lead to offense by creating turnovers."

	“	A finesse team won't get a sniff against them. It's going to have to be a team that's skilled and really, really tough ... and hungry because they have an absolutely dominating physical presence. ”
		— Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet

Cornell currently leads the nation in scoring defense at 1.30 goals per game (43 goals against in 33 games), scoring margin (+ 2.45) and penalty kill (.905). Another key stat is that the Big Red have only lost one game (23-1-0) when leading after two periods -- back on Dec. 28 against Maine at the Everblades College Classic in Florida.

"So much of playing against them is work ethic and getting in the trenches," said Dartmouth coach Bob Gaudet, whose team is a surprising 7-1-1 against Cornell since 1999. "The game is going to be against the boards and there is no team better at it than they are. You have to be really big and strong on defense and you have to be absolutely tenacious up front.

"A finesse team won't get a sniff against them. It's going to have to be a team that's skilled and really, really tough … and hungry because they have an absolutely dominating physical presence."

One of knocks against Cornell is that the ECAC is considered a tier below the top conferences (CCHA, Hockey East, WCHA), making the Big Red's record and stats a bit inflated due to weaker competition.

Cornell went 5-2 outside of league play, and both losses (Maine, Ohio State) came when LeNeveu was playing for Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. The wins were against Ohio State, a weekend pair at Western Michigan and a home sweep against Boston University.

"People at BU told me the Sunday night game was the worst beating they ever saw a BU team take," analyst Bob Norton said. "If they took BU and beat them up two games, and BU is a very physical team, then they don't have to be intimidated by anybody."

All of which has left opposing coaches and players wondering what's the best approach to take against the Big Red. Conventional wisdom says it's going to take an up-tempo team that excels in transition and on special teams.

And then figure out a way to beat LeNeveu.

"They don't give up many shots but their goalie doesn't let many goals in either," Gaudet said. "So which comes first: is their goalie that good or is their team defense that good? I think it's a little bit of both.

"They're probably not as quick as a lot of other teams but they're quicker than they were last year. They're probably not as dominating offensively as some teams but they're more than they were last year. So this is a much better Cornell team than last year."

What remains to be seen is whether that's good enough to keep Cornell No. 1 for two more weeks.

David Albright is a senior editor at ESPN.com and can be reached at david.albright@espn3.com