With their collegiate playing days behind them four seniors from the 2010-11 Clarkson University Hockey team are pursuing professional hockey careers. Brandon DeFazio is playing for the Wheeling Nailers in the East Coast Hockey League, while classmates Scott Freeman and Bryan Rufenach are skating for ECHL rivals Victoria Salmon Kings and Toledo Walleye, respectively. Tom Pizzo recently signed a contract with the Texas Brahmas in the Central Hockey League.
Through eight games with Wheeling, DeFazio has tallied six points on two goals and four assists. The 6-1, 200-ppund forward from Oakville, ONT has totaled a +5 plus/minus rating and seven penalty minutes. DeFazio was Clarkson’s leading scorer this past season with 26 points, including a team-high 14 goals. Through 141 career games with the Golden Knights, he totaled 77 points (36-41).
A 5-10, 180-pound forward from Whitby, ONT, Freeman has played in six games with the Salmon Kings and has posted two goals, three assists, a +4 and two penalty minutes. Freeman tallied 19 points (10-9) for the Knights in 2010-11 and amassed 88 career points (28-60) through 133 games from 2007-11,
Rufenach, a 5-11, 184-pound defenseman from Barrie, ONT, has played in three games with Toledo and has produced one goal and one assist along with a +5 and four penalty minutes. A leading scorer from the Clarkson blueline, Rufenach recorded 11 points (4-7) for the Green and Gold this past winter and finished his collegiate career with 55 points (21-34).
Pizzo, a 5-10, 181-pound defenseman from Rochester, will be joining Texas in time for the start of the CHL playoffs. One of the Knights’ most productive players down the stretch of the 2010-11 campaign, Pizzo posted one goal and three assists through 24 games, and recorded 11 career points (4-7) in 93 contests for Clarkson.
In early March, Mark Borowiecki, a junior defenseman, signed a two-year entry-level contract with his hometown Ottawa Senators, foregoing his final year of eligibility. The Kanata, ONT native reported to the American Hockey League's Binghamton Senators. He has played four games with Binghamton.
The mainstay of the Knights’ defense the past three seasons, Borowiecki served as Clarkson’s captain this past season. Through 99 career games, the 6-1, 206-pound rearguard recorded 32 points on 12 goals and 20 assists, and posted 165 penalty minutes. A defensive-defenseman, he tied for the Knights’ scoring lead from the blueline this year with 11 points on three goals and eight assists through 31 games, and finished with 67 penalty minutes.
