A strong defensive effort by nationally-ranked Cornell University put the Clarkson University Hockey team in check on Friday night as the Golden Knights fell to the Big Red 4-1 at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, NY.
Clarkson, which is winless in its last eight games (0-7-1), will look for its first victory since early November when it plays at Colgate on Saturday afternoon, beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Starr Rink in Hamilton. The Knights own a 2-8-3 overall record and a 1-6 ECAC Hockey mark.
Ranked 13th in the nation, Cornell held Clarkson to a season-low in shots, outshooting the Green and Gold 18-14.
“Cornell does a great job of protecting the puck and not giving you many chances,” said Clarkson head coach George Roll. “We had a few chances, but we did not make the most of our opportunities. Our guys battled tonight, but we didn’t generate enough chances. We got beat by a better team.”
Cornell (6-1-2, 5-0-2) took a 2-0 first-period lead with goals 3:27 apart. Mike Devin scored on a hard shot from the point at 8:23 that found its way through traffic in front. At 10:50, Joe Scali fired a shot through a screen from the left circle that deflected in off a player in front and past Clarkson freshman goaltender Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT).
The Knights had their opportunity to generate some offense in the second period with three straight power plays, but the Big Red killed off the Clarkson man-advantages and then made it 3-0 with 72 seconds left in the stanza as Joe Devin knocked in a rebound.
Senior Jon Marshall (Victor, NY) put the Knights on the scoreboard at 5:14 of the third, redirecting a shot from the point by freshman Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) for his first goal of the season and second career tally. Freshman defenseman Mark Borowiecki (Kanata, ONT) also assisted for his first career point.
Cornell sealed the win with a power-play marker by Colin Greening with 2:31 remaining.
Karpowich posted 14 saves, while Ben Scrivens made 13 stops for the Big Red.
Clarkson was 0-of-4 on the power play while Cornell went 1-of-4 with the man-advantage.
