Senior Shea Guthrie (Carleton Place, ONT) scored twice and classmate Chris D’Alvise (Mississauga, ONT) tallied a goal and an assist to reach 100 career points, highlighting the Clarkson University Hockey team’s 6-3 victory over Dartmouth College in ECAC Hockey action before 2,780 fans at Cheel Arena on Friday night. The six goals were the most by the Golden Knights since the opening game of the season.
“I thought we were very good from start to finish,” stated Clarkson head coach George Roll. “Unfortunately we got in some penalty trouble in the third to get them back in it, but overall I was extremely pleased with our effort. I thought we had great jump in the offensive end, and defensively I thought we were pretty solid. It was a pretty good 60 minutes of hockey for our club. If we played to our capabilities, I give us a chance against anybody. I thought tonight was a good example of us at our best.”
Clarkson, which improved its record to 9-16-6 overall and to 7-9-3 in conference play, broke open a tight 2-1 game after 40 minutes with a four-goal outburst in the final stanza. The Knights, who are 50-0-4 in their last 54 games when holding the lead through two periods, scored twice in a 35-second span to start the third.
Freshman Julien Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) began the period with his fourth goal of the year, finishing off assists from senior defenseman Phil Paquet (Quebec City, QUE) and freshman Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) at 5:33. Guthrie followed with his 10th goal of the season, and 99th career point with unassisted goal on a shot down low at 6:08 for the eventual game-winner.
Dartmouth (13-10-3, 10-7-2) came right back to make it 4-2 on sophomore Adam Estoclet’s (Orono, MN) goal 25 seconds later.
Sophomore Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) put the Knights back on top by three goals at 10:50 with a power-play marker with classmates Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) and Lauri Tuohimaa (Helsinki, Finland) assisting. The Big Green kept it close when senior Connor Shields (Edmonton, ALB) connected three seconds into a 5-on-3 power play at 12:58 to make the score 5-3.
D’Alvise, however, sealed the win, scoring on an empty-net with 69 seconds remaining for his team-high 12th goal of the season, which put him in Clarkson’s century club.
Clarkson came out with a dominating start to the game, outshooting the Big Green 6-0 through the opening eight minutes and 10-6 for the period. For the fourth straight game, the Knights got on the scoreboard first when sophomore defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) connected on the power play at 7:44. Rufenach took a pass from junior Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) at the top of he right circle and fired in his eighth goal of the season just seven seconds into the first man-advantage of the game. The eight goals by Rufenach are the most tallies by a Clarkson rearguard since Randy Jones, now with the Philadelphia Flyers, netted 13 in the 2002-03 campaign. D’Alvise also picked up an assist by winning the faceoff.
The Knights continued their strong pace to start the second and out shot Dartmouth 5-0 through the first five minutes of the stanza, but it was the visitors who tallied the first goal of the middle frame. The Big Green tied the game 1-1 when senior Rob Pritchard (Burnaby, BC) took a pass along the right boards from sophomore Kyle Reed (St. Louis, MO) and connected on a shot from the top of the circle for a shorthanded marker at 5:19, Dartmouth’s seventh man-down goal of the year.
Clarkson came right back, 1:43 later, to regain the lead as Guthrie lifted a shot over the stick-side shoulder of Dartmouth’s freshman goaltender Jody O’Neill (Nepean, ONT) for his ninth goal of the season and 98th career point. Rufenach and freshman Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) assisted.
The Knights out shot Dartmouth 35-21. Freshman Richie LaVeau (Arlington Heights, IL) made 18 saves to improve his record to 3-3-2. O’Neill made 29 stops for the Big Green.
Clarkson was sharp on the power play, going 2-of-4, while Dartmouth went 1-of-5 with the man advantage along with scoring a shorthanded marker.
