Looking to put a frustrating off-season behind them, the Clarkson University Hockey team came out with a dominating effort on Saturday night and skated to a convincing 6-1 exhibition victory over the University of Toronto before 2,640 fans at Cheel Arena.
Juniors Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) and Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) powered the Golden Knights offense with two goals apiece. Senior Tim Marks (Brownville, NY) and junior defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) chipped in the other goals. Rufenach, and sophomores Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) and Julian Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) set up two goals apiece.
Clarkson enjoyed an overwhelming 34-10 advantage in shots. There was a total of 109 minutes in penalties called in the game with Clarkson being whistled for 45 minutes on 17 penalties. The Knights finished 4-of-12 on the power play and killed off all 13 Toronto man-advantage chances.
Clarkson grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first while out shooting the Varsity Blues 15-3. Freeman, the Knights’ captain, stated the scoring 80 seconds after the opening faceoff, knocking in a rebound of Cayer’s shot from the point just 15 seconds into the first power play of the game. DeFazio, a Clarkson assistant captain, also set up the goal.
The Knights struck again with the man-advantage late in the period to take the 2-0 lead. Rufenach picked up a loose puck along the right boards, skated to the bottom of the circle and fired a quick wrist shot to the far left corner of the net for an unassisted power-play marker with 12 seconds left in the stanza.
Clarkson continued to roll in the middle frame and broke the game open with four more goals to take a 6-0 lead through 40 minutes.
Marks knocked in a backhand at 3:08, followed by Freeman’s second goal of the game at 7:01. DeFazio added two goals, tallying consecutive 4-on-3 power-play markers at 10:44 and 15:10.
With 73 minutes in penalties called in the third period, the final 20 minutes dissolved into a plethora of odd-man situations. Toronto finally got on the scoreboard with Byron Elliott’s goal with 1:43 remaining to spoil the Knights’ shutout bid.
Sophomore Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) started in the Knights’ goal and made seven saves through two periods. Sophomore Richie LaVeau (Arlington Heights, IL) played the opening 10 minutes of the final frame and turned aside the only shot he faced. Freshman Cody Rosen (Kingston, ONT) made one save on two shots to close out the game for Clarkson.
