PDF file
After opening the season with a loss and a tie at Boston College in early October, the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team returns to New England this weekend to take on a pair of highly-rated foes. The Golden Knights, guided by first-year co-head coaches Shannon and Matt Desrosiers, play at Boston University on Saturday, at 3:00 p.m., and then faceoff against one of the top teams in the nation, the University of New Hampshire on Sunday at 12 noon.
Clarkson, in its sixth season as an NCAA program, is receiving votes in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com national Division I polls.
The Knights, who had last weekend off, will look to continue the momentum they generated on October 5 in the second and third periods against 8th-ranked Boston College when they outscored the Eagles 4-0 to gain a 4-4 tie. In the first game of the season, Clarkson lost at Boston College 2-0 on October 4.
Senior Marie-Jo Gaudet (Sherbrooke, QUE) and freshman Kali Gillanders lead the Green and Gold in scoring through the first two games with one goal and one assist apiece. Gaudet, who set the Clarkson record for goal scoring in a single season last year with 24, has 42 career goals. Gillanders was named ECAC Rookie of the Week on October 7.
Sophomore Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY) has played 110 minutes in goal and posts a 0-1-1 record with a .952 save percentage and a 1.09 goals against average.
Clarkson struggled on the power play in its opening weekend, going 1-of-19. The Knights’ lone power-play tally was the tying score against the Eagles as senior defenseman, captain Kimberly McKenney (Smiths Falls, ONT) connected on a 5-on-3 advantage. The Knights killed off six-of-seven BC power plays.
Receiving votes in both national polls, Boston University takes a 2-2 record into Saturday’s game against Clarkson. The Terriers opened the season with a weekend split in New York’s Capital District region on October 3-4, defeating Union 3-2 in Schenectady before losing at Rensselaer 2-0 in Troy. In its home opener at Walter Brown Arena, Boston University split a series last weekend against 9th-ranked Mercyhurst. The Terriers lost 4-2 on October 10, but pulled out a 3-2 victory the next day over the highly-touted Lakers.
Ranked 4th/5th in the national polls, the University of New Hampshire Wildcats close out a tough three-game stretch when they host the Knights on Sunday at the Whittemore Center. UNH plays at 10th-ranked Connecticut on Wednesday night and then hosts 6th-ranked St. Lawrence on Saturday before Clarkson comes to Durham, NH. The Wildcats own a 2-0-1 record entering the week having tied Boston College 2-2, and sweeping Niagara 5-3, 5-2.
This will be Clarkson’s first ever meetings against Boston University and the University of New Hampshire.
The Knights open the home portion of the schedule at Cheel Arena on October 24-25 when they host nationally-ranked Mercyhurst College in a two-game series.