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Top 10 Clarkson Highlights - #1 Golden Knights Capture Second National Title in Four Years

The Top 10 Clarkson University Athletic Department Highlights of 2016-17 were carefully selected by the Clarkson Sports Information Staff. Top 10 Clarkson highlights will be posted on Mondays throughout the summer.

Almost immediately after beating Minnesota for the NCAA Division I Women's Hockey National Championship in 2014, online message boards were lit up with congratulations from Clarkson fans, but some forums cast doubt (mostly from shocked Minnesota fans) that the Golden Knights would ever be back to trample upon the coronation party of a Midwest team, with not so subtle subtext saying "enjoy your one trophy."

In 2014, it was Minnesota that looked unbeatable, garnering nearly all the first-place votes in the USCHO.com national poll the entire season. In 2017, Wisconsin appeared to be the class of the nation as the Badgers received every first place vote in the final 10 weekly national polls and all but seven first place votes for the entire season.

Yet it was the Golden Knights hoisting the trophy for the second time in four years when they unseated Wisconsin from its perch with a 3-0 win on March 19th in the NCAA National Championship game.


Despite coming in as an underdog against the Badgers, Clarkson was possibly the hottest team in the country for the final months of the season and was ranked in the top three nationally for all but one misguided voting week in 2017. Following back-to-back losses at home against Wisconsin in mid-October, the Golden Knights finished off the 2016-17 regular season with just a single loss in their final 28 games, cruising to the ECAC Hockey regular season championship with a record of 19-1-2 and an offense that averaged 4.13 goals per game in league play (nearly ¾ of a goal more than the second-best offense).

While the Green and Gold were impressive against league foes down the stretch, Clarkson turned things up a notch in the post-season. After sweeping Rensselaer in the ECAC Quarterfinals, the Knights recorded back-to-back shutouts of Princeton (4-0) and Cornell (1-0) to win their first ECAC Hockey championship trophy. The Knights were matched up against the Big Red just six days later in the NCAA Quarterfinals and won 3-1 to move on to their second straight Frozen Four. Facing off against revenge-minded Minnesota team, Clarkson never trailed and beat the Golden Gophers 4-3 to advance to the national title game against Wisconsin.

Badgers' goaltender Ann-Renee Desbiens won the Patty Kazmaier Award as women's hockey's top collegiate player the day before, but it was Clarkson netminder Shea Tiley who stole the show in the championship game. Tiley had an average first period, denying six shots by Wisconsin players, but it the second and third the junior was very busy, making 17 saves in the second period and 18 saves in the third stanza. Fortunately, her teammates would not let such a performance be lost in overtime.
Just 27 seconds into the second period, Savannah Harmon scored on the power play to give Clarkson a 1-0 lead, batting in a loose puck from the doorstep of the crease. With Tiley very busy in the Clarkson crease and Wisconsin getting two power play chances of their own in the third, it looked like the Badgers might knot things up and possibly take the lead. Not only was Tiley stellar in the net, but the rest of the Clarkson defense stayed strong to keep Wisconsin off the scoreboard during the four minutes of breath holding for Green and Gold fans. Four minutes after the second penalty was killed, Clarkson got exactly what it needed from its all-time leading scorer. Cayley Mercer received a pass from Loren Gabel on a two-on-one and used some nifty stickhandling to deke Desbiens at the 16:56 mark for a 2-0 Clarkson lead. With 43.3 seconds to go, Mercer capped off her collegiate career with an empty netter and the Golden Knights simply had to wait for the clock to wind down to storm the ice and congratulate Tiley.

After an enjoyable plane and bus ride back, with the NCAA National Championship trophy naturally getting its own seat, the Potsdam community hailed its conquering heroes for the second time in four years.

With five straight trips to the NCAA Tournament, three Frozen Four appearances in the last four seasons, and two national titles, it's safe to say that Clarkson has more than earned its place among the truly elite names in Division I Women's Hockey.

 
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Players Mentioned

Loren Gabel

#19 Loren Gabel

F
5' 4"
Sophomore
Savannah Harmon

#14 Savannah Harmon

D
5' 3"
Junior
Cayley Mercer

#18 Cayley Mercer

F
5' 8"
Senior
Shea Tiley

#35 Shea Tiley

G
5' 10"
Junior

Players Mentioned

Loren Gabel

#19 Loren Gabel

5' 4"
Sophomore
F
Savannah Harmon

#14 Savannah Harmon

5' 3"
Junior
D
Cayley Mercer

#18 Cayley Mercer

5' 8"
Senior
F
Shea Tiley

#35 Shea Tiley

5' 10"
Junior
G