An undermanned Clarkson University Hockey team put up a tough fight against the University of Minnesota-Duluth on Saturday night at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, but the Golden Knights suffered their second straight loss to the Bulldogs, falling 4-2.
The Golden Knights, who stand at 3-4 overall, also lost a non-league game at Minnesota-Duluth 4-1 on Friday. Clarkson, which has suffered all four of its losses on the road, opens ECAC Hockey play at Quinnipiac and Princeton next weekend.
Clarkson entered Saturday’s game against UMD (5-2-1) with a short lineup as junior captain Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) and senior defenseman Jeremiah Crowe (Kenmore, NY) stayed behind at the hotel battling the flu. With only 17 skaters dressed, the Knights lost two more players during the course of the penalty-filled game. Junior defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) and sophomore blueliner Mark Borowiecki (Kanata, ONT) were sent to the dressing room after being called for major penalties. Rufenach went off at the end of the first and was also whistled for a game disqualification, which will force him to sit out the ECAC opener at Quinnipiac on Friday. Borowiecki received a game misconduct midway through the third.
The Knights gained a quick boost of momentum to start the game when junior assistant captain Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) scored just 20 seconds after the opening faceoff. DeFazio recorded his first goal of the season with a quick wrist shot just under the crossbar with sophomores Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) and Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) assisting.
UMD tied it on Rob Bordson’s power-play goal at 10:48. All four of the Bulldogs’ goal came on the man-advantage.
Clarkson was whistled for 54 minutes of penalties on 16 infractions. UMD went 4-of-15 on the power play.
The Bulldogs took a 3-1 lead in the second, adding two more power-play goals. Brady Lamb scored at 4:53 and Mike Connolly tallied at 16:08 to give the WCHA squad a two-goal advantage through 40 minutes.
Just 65 seconds into the third frame, Borowiecki capitalized on a Clarkson power-play, connecting for his second goal of the season with Oakley and Tremblay picking up their second assists of the game to cut the deficit to 3-2.
UMD, however, sealed the win with another goal off the man-advantage as Mike Seidel tallied at 13:09.
The Bulldogs out shot the Knights 44-22. Sophomore Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) posted 40 saves and recorded his second career stop of a penalty shot, making a pad save on Drew Akins’s attempt in the second period.
Clarkson finished 1-of-8 on the power play.
Junior Eric Daddario (Medford, MA) saw his first official action as a Golden Knight in Saturday's game.
