This weekend the Golden Knights host Cornell on Friday, Feb. 23, and Cornell on Saturday, Feb. 24. Clarkson awaits two of the top three teams in the ECAC, looking to continue their momentum from an overtime win last Saturday, Feb. 17. The Knights offense enters the weekend inside the top 50 scoring 2.6 goals per game, and ranked 27th defensively allowing 2.8 goals per game. On the special teams, their power play is scoring on 16.3 percent of their chances, and the penalty kill has stopped the opposition 80.8 percent of the time. The Knights remain fourth in the ECAC standings, trailing Cornell by ten points and Colgate by six points. Union, in fifth, two points behind Clarkson, followed by Yale and St. Lawrence four points behind.

Last weekend, Cornell secured their 26th Ivy League Title, tying Yale. Cornell is ranked 11th in the USCHO poll. Their offense ranks fourteenth in the nation scoring an average of 3.4 goals per game, while they have the top ranked defense, holding opponents to 1.7 goals against per game. Despite their strong team numbers, the Big Red are not as strong on the special teams. Their power play ranks 46th in the nation at 16.8 percent, and their penalty kill is 31st at 80.7 percent, one lower than the Golden Knights. Cornell is second in the ECAC with 38 points. Six of their games have gone past regulation over the past eight weeks. Goaltender Ian Shane is the reigning ECAC MAC Goaltender of the Week from Feb. 19, and the January MAC Goaltender of the Month. Shane is also one of the favorites for the Mike Richter Award.

Colgate has the 15th best offense in the nation scoring 3.3 goals per game, ranked one below Cornell, and their power play is the sixth best in the nation at 26.9 percent. The Raiders defense is where Clarkson will look to capitalize, ranked 41st allowing 3.1 goals against per game. Their penalty kill has been successful only 74 percent. Colgate is third in the conference with 34 points.

Last Time Out

Clarkson (15-14-1, 9-8-1)

The Knights split on the road last weekend against Dartmouth and Harvard. The Knights fell behind early on Friday, Dec. 16, on a Dartmouth power play goal. The Big Green scored twice more, once at even strength om the second period and again on an empty net in the third to take a 3-0 win. Clarkson's power play finished 0-for-2, and their penalty kill was 1-for-2. Harvard took the lead on a short handed gaol in the first period Saturday, but Anthony Romano got the Knights on the board to tie the game. The Crimson regained their lead 42 seconds into the second period, which lasted late into the third period until Ryan Taylor evened the score at 2-2 with 4:13 remaining in regulation. Anthony Romano finished the weekend in style, scoring an overtime game-winner and his second goal of the game to give his team the extra point.

Cornell (16-4-5, 11-4-3)

The Big Red picked up five of six points at home last weekend, beating Brown 3-0 and winning the shootout after a 1-1 tie with Yale. Friday's result featured one goal in each period with Ryan Walsh scoring in the first period, Hoyt Stanley in the second period, and Kyle Penney in the third period. Walsh and Dalton Bancroft each had two points during the win. In Saturday's shootout win, the Big Red trailed for 66 seconds during the first period after Yale opened the scoring, but Tyler Catalano quickly evened the score. Stanley recorded an assist for his second point during the weekend. The team added their third shootout win of the season.

Colgate (13-13-4, 10-6-2)

The Raiders found a weekend sweep over Yale and Brown last weekend on home ice, scoring nine goals throughout the series. On Friday, they allowed a shorthanded goal to Yale during the first period before scoring four unanswered goals. The Bulldogs held the lead into the second period until halfway through when Jake Schneider scored the equalizer. Within the next 22 seconds, the Raiders drew a penalty and scored a power play goal to take the lead from Ross Mitton. They took a 3-1 lead with their third goal in four minutes from Simon Labelle. Halfway into the third period, Ethan Manderville scored on the power play to give Colgate a three goal lead. Yale rebounded with a power play goal of their own 26 seconds after, but the Raiders put the game away with an empty netter from Daniel Panetta to close out a 5-2 win. Three players recorded multiple points including Mitton and Labelle with one goal and one assist and Panetta with one goal and two assists.

Saturday, the Manderville took charge in the first period, scoring twice for Colgate. During the second period, Alex Dipaolo extended the lead to three goals with the Raiders' third power play goal of the weekend. Brown got on the board in the third period on the power play, but Ben Raimond answered two minutes after for Colgate. Brown would score one more goal at the halfway point in the third, but Colgate closed the game defensively to gain their second win of the weekend, 4-2. In addition to Manderville, Tommy Bergsland also had two points on assists in the win.

Last Meeting

The Knights had a tough start to the season series with Cornell and Colgate, losing both games on the road earlier this month. They traveled to Colgate in a 4-2 loss on Feb. 2, before losing 7-2 at Cornell the following night. The Knights had to play from behind in both games, trailing 2-0 in each. In the third period against Colgate, both teams alternated scoring. Ryan Richardson got the Knights on the board early in the period, but the Raiders answered two minutes after on the power play. Tristan Sarsland got the Knights back within a goal, but the Raiders scored again late in regulation to secure the win. Against Cornell, the Big Red scored twice in the opening few minutes around a delayed penalty and power play. Clarkson scored a pair to tie the game on a five-minute major penalty to close the first period, but Cornell was able to score five unanswered goals winning with the most goals the Knights have surrendered all season.

Leading Scorers

Clarkson is led in scoring by Anthony Romano, thanks to his two goal outing last weekend. Romano has 20 points in 21 games played from eight goals and 12 assists, including a four game point streak with five points during that stretch, and 14 points in 14 games since returning from injury on Dec. 29 against Arizona State. Ayrton Martino is tied with Romano for the team lead in points with 20 points in 25 games played. Martino did not appear in either game last weekend, but had three points in the pervious three games including a goal in the loss against Quinnipiac. Martino has seven goals and is tied for the team lead in assists with 13. Ryan Taylor leads the team in goals. He has nine goals this season, and regained the team lead against Harvard when he scored his first goal since the overtime game-winner against UMass on Dec. 30. Joining Martino on the top of the team with 13 assists are Mathieu Gosselin and Trey Taylor. Gosselin has 19 points in 25 games played and Taylor has 16 points in 29 games played.

Cornell is led across all scoring statistics by Senior center Gabriel Seger, who is 23rd in the nation in points per game. He has scored 30 points in 25 games played from a team leading 11 goals and 19 assists with a 25.6 shot-goal percentage. Seger snapped a six-game point streak in the game against Yale on Saturday, but had registered nine points in the previous six games. Dalton Bancroft is second on the team in points with 22 in 24 games played. Bancroft has 9 goals and 13 assists, and is tied for the team lead with Ryan Walsh for power play goals, both with 4. Kyle Penney leads the team in +/- at +21, while being third on the team in points with 21 in 25 games played. Freshman defenseman Ben Robertson leads the team in shots, and is the top for points among defensemen.

Ross Mitton is the top scorer for Colgate with 27 points in 28 games played. Mitton has 10 goals and 17 assists, with a seven game active point streak including 10 points over that period. Ryan McGuire is next in points, and leads the team in goals. McGuire has 27 points with 13 goals, including four on the power play. McGuire has not scored since a two goal performance against Princeton on Jan. 20. He also scored a hat trick against Princeton in November. Tommy Bergsland leads the Raiders in assists. 19 of his 23 points this season have come from assists. Bergsland also has a three game point streak, with four assists over the previous three games.

Senior Night

Saturday against Colgate will mark Clarkson's senior night, honoring the Class of 2024. Clarkson seniors Noah Beck and Kaelan Taylor will be the two players honored during the ceremony. Over the past four seasons, Beck has appeared in 119 games, scoring 54 total points. Beck registerd career highs in his Junior year last season totaling 6 goals, 17 assists, and 23 points. This season he has recorded seven points, missing a few games from injury during the first half. Taylor has appeared in 105 contests while recording 12 points from the blue line. He has had a breakout season as a Senior, registering career highs with 29 games played, four assists, and five points.

Where To Watch

The Knights begin the weekend hosting Cornell on Friday, Feb. 23, before hosting Colgate on Saturday, Feb. 24. Both games will be streaming on ESPN+ or Stretch Internet. You can also listen to each game online at b993.fm or on the radio B99.3 FM. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. both nights, and the television and radio pregame show begins at 6:50 p.m.