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Jordan Boucher scored twice for the Knights in the UVM series - photo by Connor Koehler

Men's Hockey October 11, 2016

Clarkson Men Host Weekend Series vs Hockey East Foes

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Season-opening, non-conference action against Hockey East foes continues for the Clarkson University Hockey team as the Golden Knights host two games at Cheel Arena this weekend.

Guided by sixth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy and Josh Hauge, Clarkson faces off against Merrimack College on Friday and takes on the University New Hampshire on Saturday. Both games are 7:00 p.m. starts.

The Knights began their 95th season of play this past weekend splitting a home-and-home series with the University of Vermont. The Green and Gold snapped a five-game losing skid to the Catamounts on Saturday with a 3-2 victory at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington. In their season opener this past Friday Clarkson fell to Vermont 5-2 at Cheel Arena.
 
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•    Clarkson and Merrimack will face off for the fourth straight year after having not played against each other in the previous 25 seasons prior to the 2013-14 campaign. The Warriors have enjoyed the better of the renewed rivalry with four straight victories over the Knights, including a pair of shutouts, to lead the all-time series 6-5.  Last season in North Andover, MA, the Warriors handed Clarkson one of its worst losses of the season, a 7-1 defeat on October 16.
•    Clarkson snapped a five-game losing skid to UNH last season with a 4-3 victory in Durham on October 17. The University of New Hampshire has won 10 of the last 13 meetings to take a 24-22-2 lead in the all-time series. 
•    The Knights will close out a season-opening, six-game slate against Hockey East opponents when they take to the road next weekend, playing at 2015 National Champion, #11-ranked Providence College and #8-ranked UMass-Lowell .
•    Junior Ben Dalpe scored the game-winner in Saturday's 3-2 victory at UVM, shorthanded, to break a 2-2 tie early in the third period. Dalpe's last three goals have all been game-winners. His previous goal prior to Saturday was the deciding score in the 2-1 victory over Harvard last February 26. He also tallied the winner in the 5-2 victory over Princeton on February 12. Four of Dalpe's six career goals have been game-winners.
•    Four different Knights accounted for Clarkson's five goals in the series against Vermont. Senior Jordan Boucher lead the way with two goals, both coming in the season opener on Friday. 
• Senior defenseman James de Haas, recorded three assist over the weekend to lead the team in points. He is the Knights' active career scoring leader with 48 points on 17 goals and 31 assists. The 2012 NHL Draft pick of Detroit, serves as Clarkson's captain.
• Last year's leading scorer, junior Sam Vigneault scored his 19th career goal in Saturday's win. Junior Nic Pierog opened the scoring on Saturday.
• Freshman goaltender Jake Kielly started both games in the opening weekend, posting a .875 save percentage and a 3.50 goals against average. He made 49 saves on 56 shots, and allowed only two goals on 16 opponent power plays. 
• The NCAA's emphasis on having the referees "reclaim the rulebook" made specialty teams play a major focus in the opening weekend with numerous penalties being called on all teams throughout the country. Clarkson was 2-of-15 (13%) on the power play and killed off 14-of-16 (88%) opponent man-advantage opportunities through the first two games. The Knights had a combined 16 power plays through the first four games of last season, while opponents had 18 man-advantage in the same span last year. Clarkson had 10 power-plays (1-10) on Friday against UVM, while the Catamounts went on the man-advantage 10 times (1-10) in Saturday's game. The last time Clarkson had 10 power plays in a game was on January 4, 2011 against Minnesota-Duluth (1-10). The last time the Knights had to kill of at least 10 power plays was on February 7, 2014 at Quinnipiac (10-11).
• Senior goaltender Steve Perry and junior defenseman Terrance Amorosa did not play in the opening weekend, nursing minor injuries.
• Joining de Haas in leadership roles for Clarkson this season are senior Perry D'Arrisso and juniors Brett Gervais and Pierog, who will serve as assistant captains. 
•    The 2016-17 Clarkson schedule looks to be one of the more exciting and competitive campaigns in the Golden Knights' lengthy history. Entering its 95th season this fall, Clarkson will face a challenging schedule that includes a possible eight games against Hockey East foes, a notable Thanksgiving Holiday Tournament, a 17-date home slate, including a pair of contests against two traditional Big 10 powerhouse programs, and the always demanding 22-game ECAC Hockey circuit.
•    In the opening month of October, Clarkson will play six of its first eight games against teams receiving votes in the Preseason USCHO.com poll, including three games against the Top 15-ranked programs. The Knights open ECAC Hockey play on November 4 against #2-ranked Quinnipiac, the defending league regular season and tournament champion.
• The Knights are receiving votes (32) in the USCHO.com poll this week, and are picked to finish fourth in the ECAC this year by the league coaches.
• Rated one of the best college hockey arena fan experiences in the country, Stadium Journey Magazine (www.scout.com/stadium-journey) listed Cheel as the fourth-best hockey experience on its ranking of the 59 NCAA Division I facilities. The Green and Gold have posted a .656 Winning % on their home ice since 1991 with a 278-136-46 record at Cheel.
•    In its 95th season, Clarkson boasts 71 winning campaigns and a 1,396-836-149 all-time record for a .618 winning % since 1920-21.
•    Clarkson was ranked 15th among the Top 25 College Hockey Programs of All Time by HERO Sports - http://herosports.com/
•    Four current Golden Knights have been selected in the NHL Draft – James de Haas (2012 Detroit - 6th rd, 170), Terrence Amorosa (2013 Philadelphia - 5th rd, 189), Troy Josephs (2013 Pittsburgh - 7th rd, 209) and Kelly Summers (2014 Ottawa - 7th rd, 189).

Scouting Merrimack
The Warriors, guided by 13th-year head coach Mark Dennehy, opened the season with a 2-1 loss to Atlantic Hockey's Sacred Heart on Sunday afternoon. Despite 14 power-play opportunities, Merrimack was outshot in the game 28-21. Sacred Heart took a 2-0 lead before Jared Kolquist scored a 5x3 power-play goal in the final three minutes for the Warriors. 
Merrimack posted a 13-19-7 overall record in 2015-16 and finished in seventh place in the Hockey East standings with a 5-10-7 league mark.

Scouting UNH
One of college hockey's longest tenured coaches Dick Umile, now in his 27th year behind the UNH bench, brings the Wildcats to the North Country this weekend. UNH plays at St. Lawrence on Friday.  The Wildcats fell at home on Saturday in their season opener, losing to Atlantic Hockey's Bentley 5-1. 
UNH was 11-20-6 overall last season and finished 10th in Hockey East at 4-12-6.

The Series:
Clarkson and Merrimack will face off for the fourth straight year after having not played against each other in the previous 25 seasons prior to the 2013-14 campaign. The Warriors have enjoyed the better of the renewed rivalry with four straight victories over the Knights, including a pair of shutouts, to lead the all-time series 6-5. Last season in North Andover, MA, the Warriors handed Clarkson one of its worst losses of the season, a 7-1 defeat on October 16.

Merrimack swept the Green and Gold in North Andover, MA in the 2014-15 campaign, winning 3-0 and 2-1 on November 28-29. The teams split at Cheel Arena on January 10-11, 2014 with the Knights winning the first game 3-2 before the Warriors came back the next night to post a 4-0 whitewash. The Knights won the first four games between the schools, starting with a 12-3 victory on February 25, 1967 in Potsdam. The Warriors, however, have won six of the last seven meetings. 

Nic Pierog is the only current Knight with a point in the series, scoring a power-play goal against Merrimack during his freshman campaign. Steve Perry has played three games in the series and holds a .810 save percentage and a 4.10 goals against average. Ville Runola picked up his first NCAA win with 20 saves in the 3-2 victory over Merrimack on January 10, 2014.  

Clarkson snapped a five-game losing skid to UNH last season with a 4-3 victory in Durham on October 17 as Jeff DiNallo tallied the game-winner with 42 seconds remaining in regulation. The University of New Hampshire has won 10 of the last 13 meetings to take a 24-22-2 lead in the all-time series. 

The rivalry began on January 28, 1964 with the Knights skating to a 14-2 win at Walker Arena. The teams last met at the Cheel Arena on December 5, 2003 with UNH taking a 4-3 victory. Each team has skated to a pair of victories at Cheel.

James de Haas has a team-high two points against the Wildcats with a goal and an assist. Jordan Boucher, A.J. Fossen and Troy Josephs all have scored once in the series. Steve Perry has played one game against UNH with a .893 save percentage and a 3.00 goals against average en route to a 1-0-0 record.
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Players Mentioned

Jeff DiNallo

#29 Jeff DiNallo

F
5' 7"
Senior
Terrance Amorosa

#44 Terrance Amorosa

D
6' 2"
Junior
Jordan Boucher

#28 Jordan Boucher

F
6' 0"
Senior
Perry D

#8 Perry D'Arrisso

F
5' 10"
Senior
Ben Dalpe

#9 Ben Dalpe

F
5' 9"
Junior
James de Haas

#2 James de Haas

D
6' 3"
Senior
A.J. Fossen

#26 A.J. Fossen

F
5' 9"
Senior
Brett Gervais

#19 Brett Gervais

F
5' 10"
Junior
Troy Josephs

#16 Troy Josephs

F
6' 0"
Senior
Steve Perry

#1 Steve Perry

G
5' 10"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Jeff DiNallo

#29 Jeff DiNallo

5' 7"
Senior
F
Terrance Amorosa

#44 Terrance Amorosa

6' 2"
Junior
D
Jordan Boucher

#28 Jordan Boucher

6' 0"
Senior
F
Perry D

#8 Perry D'Arrisso

5' 10"
Senior
F
Ben Dalpe

#9 Ben Dalpe

5' 9"
Junior
F
James de Haas

#2 James de Haas

6' 3"
Senior
D
A.J. Fossen

#26 A.J. Fossen

5' 9"
Senior
F
Brett Gervais

#19 Brett Gervais

5' 10"
Junior
F
Troy Josephs

#16 Troy Josephs

6' 0"
Senior
F
Steve Perry

#1 Steve Perry

5' 10"
Senior
G