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Clarkson Hosts Yale to Start Postseason Play

3/11/2019 11:02:00 PM

ECAC Hockey quarterfinal action returns to Cheel Arena for the second consecutive postseason when Clarkson University hosts Yale in a best-of-three game series this weekend. The Golden Knights, who earned the No.3 seed in the conference playoffs, and Bulldogs will face off in Game 1 on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The teams will meet again on Saturday in Game 2 at 7:00 p.m. If the series is tied after the first two nights, a deciding Game 3 will be played on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. 

Guided by eighth-year head coach Casey Jones, a Finalist for ECAC Hockey Coach of the Year, and assistants Josh Hauge and Brent Brekke, Clarkson skated to its second straight top-4 finish in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 13-7-2 league mark. The Green and Gold closed out the regular season by taking three of four points at Cheel Arena on March 1-2 in the final weekend. The Knights defeated Colgate 3-2 and then scored a last minute goal in regulation to tie Cornell 2-2.
 
• Unbeaten in its last five games (3-0-2) entering postseason play, Clarkson is ranked 11th in the national polls with a 22-10-2 overall record.
• Clarkson has been a force in the ECAC since the league was formed at the start of the 1961-62 season. The Knights have participated in 56 of the conference's first 57 postseason tournaments, winning five league championships (1966, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2007). Clarkson owns a 94-80-5 record in the conference playoffs, and is 54-27-4 in the quarterfinal round. Clarkson has a 10-8-1 postseason record in six years as the third seed, including winning the 1993 tournament title. The Knights advanced all the way to the tournament championship game last year as the third seed, falling in overtime 2-1 to Princeton.
• Last year, the Knights defeated Colgate 2-1 in the quarterfinals at Cheel Arena (1-2, 3-0, 5-1).
• Clarkson is 35-14 in ECAC postseason games at Cheel Arena.
• Clarkson and Yale have played six times in the ECAC Hockey playoffs with the Green and Gold going 4-1-1 with all postseason meetings coming in the quarterfinal round. In their last playoff meeting, Clarkson swept a 1997 quarterfinal series against the Bulldogs, winning 5-2 and 4-1 at Cheel Arena. 
• The Knights have advanced to 32 league championship tournaments and have skated in 14 title games, winning its fifth in 2007 with a 4-2 victory over Quinnipiac in the championship game at the Times Union Center in Albany.
• Clarkson owns the nation's fifth-best home winning percentage (.781) with an 12-3-1 record at Cheel Arena.
• Since posting an eight-game winning streak (12/8 – 1/19) the Knights split their next four weekend series, losing on Friday and winning on Saturday before taking three of four points in each of the last two weekends. 
• Clarkson is 8-6-1 in Friday night games, 13-3-1 on Saturday and 1-1 on other days of the week.
• During the past six weekends the Knights have allowed 17 goals on Friday night, while scoring nine. Clarkson's 3-2 victory over Colgate on March 1 was the Green and Gold's first Friday night triumph since defeating Yale 4-2 on January 18.
• The past six Saturdays Clarkson has allowed just 10 goals, while scoring 19.
• Through the first eight Saturday's of the 2019 portion of the schedule, Clarkson has outscored the opponents 28-10 while going 7-0-1 on the final day of the week. 
• Clarkson is 19-0-1 when leading after two periods. 
• In the final weekend of the regular season, the Knights picked up points for the first time this season when trailing after two periods. Clarkson trailed Colgate 1-0 after 40 minutes before winning 3-2, and overcame a 2-1 second-period deficit to Cornell to gain a 2-2 tie. The Green and Gold are 1-8-1 when behind after 40 minutes.  
• Clarkson's defensive effort is ranked fifth in the NCAA, allowing only 2.00 goals per game.
• Clarkson's offense is averaging 3.06 goals per game, 19th in the NCAA.
• The Knights' scoring margin is 9th in the NCAA at 1.06.
• Co-captain Nico Sturm leads the Green and Gold's offensive effort with 41 points, tied for 12th in the NCAA in points per game (1.21). He has tallied 13 goals and a team-high 28 assists (tied for 9th in the nation). He has set up more goals in a season than any Golden Knight since Kent Huskins '01 also tallied 28 assists in 2001-01. The junior center has recorded at least one point in 30 of the first 34 games, and has posted 11 multiple-point outings. During his three seasons, Clarkson is 21-3 when Sturm records two-or-more points in a game. Sturm is bidding to become the next Golden Knight to join the century club with 99 career points (35-64) in 113 games. The last Clarkson player to reach 100 points was Allan McPherson '14 (103) and the last Golden Knight junior to reach the coveted mark was Erik Cole '00 (103). ECAC Hockey's Best Defensive Forward last season, Sturm holds the best overall plus/minus rating in the league (+23), tied for seventh best in the nation. He is Clarkson's top center at the faceoff circle, winning 56.7% (325-248) of his draws. He was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Week on December 31 and is a Clarkson Hobey Baker Award nominee.
• Haralds Egle has had the hot hand for the Golden Knights in recent games. The junior forward has netted the game-winning goal in three of Clarkson's last four victories. Four of his team-high five game-winning goals have come in the Knights' last six triumphs. Egle has tallied 18 points (10-8) in the first 17 games of the New Year. Egle is Clarkson's leading goal scorer with 17 and second in points with 35. He recorded 16 points (5-11) last season. 
• Starting all 34 games, junior Jake Kielly ranks among the NCAA's best in all the major goaltending categories.  He leads Division I in wins with 22, tied for fourth in shutouts with five,  posts a .928 save percentage (8th in the nation) and a 1.92 goals against average (7th).  He has allowed two-or-fewer goals in 24 of the 34 games. He leads all active NCAA goaltenders in career shutouts with 16. Kielly is fifth on the Green and Gold's all-time win list with a 60-36-13 career record.  He was named MVP of the Desert Hockey Classic, gained ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Month honors for October and January and  has earned ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week accolades three times this season (11/5, 11/19, 12/31). Kielly was named one of the 20 Division I goaltenders to the watch list for the 2019 Mike Richter Award, which annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in the NCAA. He is also a Clarkson Hobey Baker Award nominee.
• Six other Golden Knights are scoring in double figures.  Through 34 games, 21 Knights have scored at least one goal and 23 of 24 skaters (with the exception of freshman defenseman Cam Ginnetti, who join the team in the second semester) have recorded at least one point. 
• Aaron Thow leads the Knights' offensive production from the blueline and is third on the team in scoring with 22 points on seven goals and 15 assists. He posts a +9 plus/minus. He netted the game-winner and set up another score in the 3-2 victory over Colgate.Thow, one of just three seniors on the Clarkson roster, tallied 26 points (7-19) through his first three seasons with a then career-high 11 points (2-9) last year. 
• Junior co-captain Devin Brosseau (10-11) and sophomore Jack Jacome (4-17) round out Clarkson's 20-point scorers with 21 points each. 
• Brosseau tallied his team-high fifth power-play goal of the season with the opening score in the 2-2 tie against Cornell.
• Greg Moro is second on the Clarkson blueline in scoring with 19 points. Four of his five goals have come on the power play. He owns the best plus/minus among the Knight rearguards at +15.
• The Knights' nine-member freshman class has combined to skate in 222 games (most of any Clarkson class) and has contributed 22% of the scoring with 26 goals and 34 assists. 
• Josh Dunne leads the way for the Knights rookies in scoring with 18 points on 12 goals and six assists. He tallied the tying goal against Cornell with 43 seconds remaining in regulation.
• Anthony Callin, another rookie center for the Green and Gold, recorded his first career multiple-goal game with Clarkson's first and last scores at Quinnipiac. He has eight points, including five goals through 30 games. All his points have come in the New Year.
• The Knights' three member Class of 2019 – Juho Jokiharju, Marly Quince and Aaron Thow - have compiled 83 victories, the most by any Clarkson senior class in 18 seasons.
• The Knights have tallied the opening goal in 24 of the 34 games, going 16-6-12 when they get on the scoreboard first. However, Clarkson has opened the scoring just three times in the last 10 games.
• The Knights' penalty kill is ranked 15th in the country at 84.9% (101-119), while the power play is ranked 26th in Division I, clicking at 19.3% (21-109). The Knights went just 3-of-21 (14.2%) with the man-advantage in February.
• Clarkson starts fast and finishes strong, outscoring the opponents 32-20 in the first period and 41-19 over the final 20  minutes of regulation. The Green and Gold hold a 30-28 edge in the middle frame.
• Goaltender Kris Oldham, a junior transfer serving a year-in-residence and not NCAA eligible to compete for the Knights until 2019-20, competed for the U.S. Men's National University Team at the 2019 Winter World University Games from March 1-9 in Krasnoyarsk, Russia.
• In its 97th season, Clarkson boasts 74 winning campaigns and a 1,458-872-162 all-time record for a .618 winning percentage since 1920-21.

Vs Yale -In the rivalry against Yale, which first began in 1930, the Knights hold a commanding 75-40-8 lead. The teams have played fairly evenly recently with Clarkson holding a 3-2 advantage in the past five games and a 4-3-3 edge in the previous 10 meetings. Yale snapped a two-game series' losing skid with a 2-1 victory in Potsdam on December 1, but the Knights returned the favor with 4-2 victory in New Haven on January 18. 

Clarkson and Yale have played six times in the ECAC Hockey playoffs with the Green and Gold going 4-1-1 with all postseason meetings coming in the quarterfinal round. In their last playoff meeting, Clarkson swept a 1997 quarterfinal series against the Bulldogs, winning 5-2 and 4-1 at Cheel Arena. The Knights also won the 1991 quarterfinal series in Potsdam (4-0, 6-3). In their first playoff battle, Yale defeated Clarkson 1-0-1 in the 1987 quarterfinals, tying the first game 4-4 and winning the second game 4-3 at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, CT.

Nico Sturm has a team-high eight points against the Bulldogs on two goals and six assists. Three other Knights have scored two goals in the series.  Jake Kielly posts a .941 save percentage, a 1.83 GAA and a 3-2-2 record.
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