With his first collegiate point, Golden Knight newcomer Markus Piispanen (Vantaa, Finland) sparked a three-goal rally for the Clarkson University Hockey team in the Green and Gold’s 3-1 victory over Alabama-Huntsville in non-conference action before 2,389 fans at Cheel Arena on Friday night.
Clarkson, which snapped out of a six-game winless stretch (0-4-2), earned its first victory since November 20 to improve its record to 5-12-2 overall. Alabama-Huntsville falls to 5-11-1 overall. The Knights and Chargers will face off again on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
Audio of Clarkson Head Coach George Roll's postgame comments
Playing in his third NCAA game after joining Clarkson at the start of the New Year, Piispanen, a freshman center, tied the game 1-1 late in the second period. Piispanen knocked in a rebound from the left circle with one second left in a man-advantage for his first career goal. Junior defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) and sophomore Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) assisted on the goal that came with 26 seconds remaining in the period.
Audio of Piispanen Goal
The Knights added two more goals in the third to gain the win. Tremblay scored his second goal of the season and first in 14 games when he connected on a shot from the corner at 7:59. Junior Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) and Rufenach assisted.
Audio of Tremblay Goal
Senior Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) added an insurance marker at 14:35. Beca one-timed a shot in the slot off a pass out of the corner from junior Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) for his team-high 10th goal of the season. Freshman defenseman Andrew Himelson (Monroe, NY) also assisted.
Audio of Beca Goal
Clarkson out shot Alabama-Huntsville 34-21, including by a 13-4 margin over the final 20 minutes. Sophomore Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) posted 20 saves for the Knights. Cameron Talbot finished with 31 stops for the Chargers.
Clarkson was 1-of-4 on the power play and killed off all six of Alabama-Huntsville’s six man-advantage opportunities.
After a scoreless opening period, Alabama-Huntsville got on the scoreboard first when the Chargers took advantage of a Clarkson miscue in the Knights’ zone. Andrew Coburn picked up a Clarkson clearing pass that deflected off a skate in the high slot and fed a pass to linemate Sebastian Geoffrion, who lifted in a shot from the left side at 2:08 of the middle frame.
