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The Clarkson University Hockey team will look to break out of a three-game winless stretch (0-2-1) when they close out a six-game home stand at Cheel Arena this weekend hosting Yale and Brown. Both games are 7:00 p.m. faceoffs.
The Golden Knights, guided by seventh-year head coach George Roll and associate coach Greg Drechsel, are looking to get on track in 2010 and make a strong push down the stretch. Clarkson owns a 5-14-3 overall record and is tied for 11th in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 1-7-2 league mark.This past weekend in Potsdam, the Green and Gold played two strong games against a pair of Central NY rivals, but were not able to come away with any league points. On Friday, the Knights held number 8th/9th-ranked Cornell in check for most of the contest before the Big Red scored twice late in the third to gain a 3-1 victory. Against Colgate on Saturday, Clarkson trailed by just one (3-2) early in the third, before the Raiders, helped by a video review that resulted in their fourth goal, pulled away late in the game for a 6-2 win.
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Just when the Knights were gaining depth in the lineup with the addition of freshman forward Markus Piispanen (Vantaa, Finland), who joined the team in early January, and the return of freshman forward Pete Massar (Williston, VT), who played against Colgate after missing the previous 17 games with an injury, Clarkson has been hit by a rash of injuries, depleting the blueline. Freshman defenseman Andrew Himelson (Monroe, NY) suffered an injury against Alabama-Huntsville (1/9) and missed this past weekend series. Junior defenseman Dan Reed (Walworth, NY) and sophomore rearguard Mark Borowiecki (Kanata, ONT) went down with injuries early in the game against Colgate and did not return. All three defensemen are expected to miss this weekend’s series against Yale and Brown.
After this weekend’s home games, the Knights play four straight on the road with return matchups at Colgate and Cornell to close out the month, and games at Union and Rensselaer in early February. Clarkson is 4-5-1 at Cheel Arena this season and 1-7-2 on opponents’ home ice.
Clarkson faces it second straight Top-10 ranked foe to start a weekend series at home when Yale comes town Friday night. The Bulldogs, guided by fourth-year head coach Keith Allain, are ranked 5th/6th in the latest national polls and have gone 5-1-1 since December. Yale skated to an 8-5 victory over Brown in New Haven, CT on Saturday to improve its record to 10-4-3 overall and to 6-2-2 in the league. The Bulldogs are tied for third in the ECAC Hockey standings. Yale, which fell at Harvard 3-2 on January 12 for its lone loss in over a month, is 5-3-2 away from Ingalls Rink.
Under first-year head coach Brendan Whittet, Brown has already equaled last year’s overall and conference win totals. One of the most improved teams in college hockey, the Bears enter the North Country with a 5-11-1 overall record and are tied for ninth in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 3-6-1 league mark prior to Friday’s game at St. Lawrence. The Bears, however, have struggled of late and are winless in the New Year with a four-game losing streak. Brown’s last win was a 5-2 victory over American International in Providence, RI on December 8.
The Series:
Clarkson leads the all-time series against Yale, which began in 1929-30, 68-30-4. The Knights have won eight of the last 11 meetings, but have split the past two regular-season series. The Bulldogs won the first game last year with a 3-2 victory at Cheel Arena on November 8, 2008, handing the Green and Gold their first regular-season loss to a conference foe in Potsdam in 22 games. Clarkson came back to win the next meeting, rallying for three third-period goals to gain a 4-3 triumph at Ingalls Rink on January 16, 2008. Matt Beca (3-1) and Lauri Tuohimaa (1-3) both have a team-high four points against Yale. Richie LaVeau is 1-0 against the Bulldogs with a .906 save percentage and a 3.00 goals against average. Paul Karpowich posts a .918 save percentage, a 3.07 GAA and a 0-1 mark in the series. The Knights are 16-4 against Yale at Cheel Arena. George Roll is 8-5 against the Bulldogs, while Yale head coach Keith Allain is 2-4 against Clarkson.
Clarkson has won seven straight over Brown to lead the series, which began in 1953, by a commanding 55-13-6 margin. Last season, the Knights skated to a 3-1 victory at Cheel on November 7, 2008, and tallied the game’s last three goals to earn a 4-3 overtime triumph at Meehan Auditorium on January 17, 2009. The Bears’ last victory in the series was a 4-3 win in Providence on November 11, 2005. The Bears’ last win in Potsdam was a 4-2 victory on November 26, 2004. Clarkson holds a 17-3-3 record over Brown at Cheel. Matt Beca leads the current Knights in scoring against Brown with two goals and six assists through six games. Paul Karpowich posts a .927 save percentage, a 1.98 GAA and a 2-0 mark in the series. George Roll is 8-4 against Brown, while Brendan Whittet is facing Clarkson for the first time as a head coach.
Knight Notes:
A former standout goaltender for the Golden Knights, Chris Rogles has been named a Clarkson assistant coach. Rogles takes over the position vacated when Jean Francois Houle left the program in December to assume the head coaching role with the Lewiston MAINEiacs in the QMJHL. Rogles brings a wealth of expertise back to Clarkson having played 15 years of professional hockey. A 1993 Clarkson graduate, Rogles has had experience with the National Hockey League’s Chicago Blackhawks, and competed in the International Hockey League. He was selected to several United States National Teams, and played overseas in EliteSerien (Sweden) and DEL (Germany). At Clarkson, Rogles was a leading contributor in four years of unparalleled success for the program in the early 1990s. He emerged from a walk-on candidate into one of the Knights’ most successful goaltenders, helping to lead the Green and Gold to a 92-40-11 overall record from 1989-93, four straight 20-win seasons, four consecutive showings in the NCAA Tournament, including a Frozen Four appearance (1991), two ECAC Tournament Championships crowns (1991, 1993), and a conference regular season title (1991). He compiled a 44-13-4 record, including six shutouts, a .903 save percentage and a 2.90 goals against average. He also recorded six assists in his Clarkson career. Rogles earned a myriad of honors which was culminated with the Most Valuable Player award of the 1993 ECAC Championship Tournament … Pete Massar played his fourth game of the season and first since the RIT contest on October 17 when he skated against Colgate. Massar who was sidelined with an injury for the previous 17 games, had four shots on goal against the Raiders … Sophomore Corey Tamblyn (Bobcaygeon, ONT) scored the Knights’ lone goal against Cornell for his third tally of the season. He did not record any goals as a freshman last season … Sophomore Julien Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) snapped a 12-game goal-scoring drought when he connected on the power play against Colgate for his second goal of the season … Clarkson’s leading scorer with 22 points, senior Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) netted his team-high 12th goal of the season on Saturday against Colgate. Beca has 107 career points (43-64) through 134 games … Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) is the Knights’ leading scorer from the blueline with 16 points (5-11). He has recorded five points (1-4) over the past five games ... Clarkson has just one win in its last 10 games (1-6-3).
