New Haven, CT - Junior Marie-Jo Gaudet (Sherbrooke, QUE) did it in the first and second periods while freshman Melissa Waldie (Newmarket, ONT) accomplished the feat in the second and third period, but one would have been enough for the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team as the two wingers each recorded natural hat tricks in a 6-0 shutout of Yale Friday night.
The Golden Knights improved to 11-4-2 overall and 4-3-0 in the ECAC Hockey League while the Bulldogs fell to 3-4-2 overall and 3-4-1 in conference play. Clarkson seeks its second weekend sweep of conference foes tomorrow when the team faces Brown in Providence, RI.
Though Yale held a narrow 13-12 edge in shots in the first period, it was the Knights who would get on the scoreboard in the first as Gaudet recorded her eighth and ninth goals of the season late in the frame. At 12:40, Gaudet scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with assists going to Carlee Eusepi (Oakville, ONT) and Genevieve Lavoie (Delson, QUE). Lavoie picked up her second assist of the game on Gaudet's second goal of the period at 15:38.
Gaudet completed her natural hat trick early in the third period when she tallied on a 5-on-3 power play at 2:06 with Courtney Olson (Great Falls, MT) assisting. That goal would end Gaudet's torried scoring pace for the night, but the freshman Melissa Waldie started her own run at 16:13 of the second period with a power-play marker. Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT) and Kim McKenney (Smiths Falls, ONT) each assisted on the score.
In the third period, Waldie finished off the Bulldogs with two goals just 1:12 apart early in the stanza. Waldie scored from Jessica Cloutier (Parker, CO) at 4:59 and recorded her second power-play goal of the game at 6:11 to complete her own natural hat trick, scoring her team-high 11th goal of the season, with helpers coming from Eusepi and McKenney, each their second of the game.
Following the first period, Clarkson dominated play, out shooting Yale 27-7 in the final 40 minutes. Eve Grandmont-Berube (Drummondville, QUE) was called upon to make 20 saves in the game, picking up her fourth shutout of the season. Jackee Snikeris made 26 saves for Yale before being relieved after the sixth goal by Shivon Zilis, who made seven saves in the final 13:49.
Clarkson finished with a 39-20 edge in shots and went 3-for-8 on the power play. Yale was scoreless in each of its two power play opportunities.
