Road woes continued for the Clarkson University Hockey team on Saturday afternoon in New Jersey as the Golden Knights lost at Princeton University 4-1 in ECAC Hockey action before 1,700 fans at Hobey Baker Rink.
The Golden Knights, who lost at Quinnipiac 4-2 on Friday night, are winless on the road this season (0-6) and fall to 3-6 overall and to 0-2 in ECAC Hockey. Clarkson returns to Cheel Arena this coming weekend after completing a four-game road trip. The Knights host Capital District rivals Rensselaer and Union in 7:00 p.m. games, respectively on Friday and Saturday.
Much like Friday’s game at Quinnipiac, the Knights came out with a strong first-period effort at Princeton (2-2-0, 1-1-0), out shooting their host 19-8 through the opening 20 minutes, but it was the Tigers who took the lead into intermission. Despite three power plays in the first, the Green and Gold could not convert, while Dan Bartell put Princeton up 1-0 at 5:29.
Princeton picked up its play in the middle frame and added a pair of goals while out shooting Clarkson 17-6 in the stanza. With just one second left on the Tigers’ first power play of the game, Mark Magnowski scored on a deflection in front at 1:57. Matt Arhontas capitalized on a Clarkson turnover in its own end and slipped a shot through the five-hole of the Knights’ sophomore goaltender Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) at 12:31 for a 3-0 Princeton lead.
Early in the third, senior assistant captain Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) gave Clarkson life, scoring his team-high sixth goal of the year at 3:10 with junior Lauri Tuohimaa (Helsinki, Finland) and sophomore defenseman Mark Borowiecki (Kanata, ONT) assisting.
AUDIO of BECA GOAL
The Knights, however, could not pull any closer. Clarkson skated on two power plays in the third, but failed to register a shot on goal during those man-advantage opportunities.
Princeton sealed its first conference victory of the season with an empty-net goal by Arhontas at 18:07.
The Tigers held a slight 34-32 margin in shots. Karpowich made 30 saves, including 15 stops in the second period. Making his first start of the season, Alan Reynolds turned aside 31 shots for Princeton.
Clarkson was 0-for-6 on the power play with just four shots on the man-advantage. Princeton was 1-of-2 on the power play.
