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Looking to pick up where it left off before its lengthy 33-day break, the nationally-ranked Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team opens the New Year with six straight games on the road, beginning with this weekend’s ECAC Hockey series in NYS’ Capital District region. The Golden Knights, guided by second-year co-head coaches Shannon and Matt Desrosiers face off against Union in Schenectady on Friday at 7:00 p.m. and then battle Rensselaer in Troy on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
Saturday's game at Rensseler will be be aired live on 91.5 FM, WRPI and online at www.wrpi.org. Live stats and the B2 broadcast will also be available.
Ranked third in the country in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey polls, the Golden Knights last saw action on December 4-5 when they swept Quinnipiac (2-1) and Princeton (3-0) at Cheel Arena. Led by senior captain Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT) and senior assistant captain Carlee Eusepi (Oakville, ONT), Clarkson begins the 2010 portion of the schedule with a 14-4-1 overall record and owns the best winning percentage in ECAC Hockey at .889 with an 8-1 league slate.
Clarkson boasts one of the stingiest defenses in Division I, allowing only 1.32 goals per game, fourth best in the NCAA. Junior goaltender Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY), who has played every minute in the Green and Gold crease, backbones the solid effort. She holds a .944 save percentage (4th best in the nation), a 1.26 goals against average (5th) and is tied for the national lead in shutouts (5).
Five Golden Knights are recording double figures in the points column. Dominique Thibault (L’Original, ONT), a senior transfer from UConn, leads the way offensively with 22 points, including a team-high 11 goals. The Knights’ all-time leading scorer, Selina has tallied 20 points, including a team-high 14 assists. Selina has amassed 132 career points on 46 goals and 86 assists through 127 games. Junior Melissa Waldie (Newmarket, ONT) has 18 points (10-8) and leads the team in power-play markers with six, and game-winning tallies with four. Sophomore standout Juana Baribeau (Amos, QUE) chips in 17 points (9-8). Eusepi powers the offense from the blueline with 10 points (3-7).
Selina, Eusepi and Thibault skated for the ECAC Hockey All-Star Team that played the 2010 U.S. Women’s National Team this past Sunday at TD Bank Sports Center on the campus of Quinnipiac The USA team defeated the all-stars 8-2.
Union owns a 4-15-1 overall record and is 0-7-1 in ECAC Hockey. All the Dutchwomen’s wins have come at Messa Rink where they are 4-6-1 this season. Union split a series against North Dakota at home to open the New Year, winning the first game 3-1 before losing the second game 5-0 last Saturday.
Rensselaer enters the weekend with a 7-8-4 overall record and is tied for sixth place in the league standings, along with St. Lawrence, owning a 4-2-2 conference slate. The Engineers host the Saints on Friday before playing Clarkson. RPI has won three of its last four games, but has not played since December 5-6 when it swept Union in a home-and-home series (2-0, 5-0). The Engineers went 4-5-2 at Houston Field in the first half of the schedule.
Clarkson has never lost to Union, posting a 12-0 record against the Dutchwomen. The Knights have outscored Union 61-3 and have posted nine shutouts in the series, including five straight.
Rensselaer was one of only two teams, Cornell the other, to sweep Clarkson last year. The Engineers posted 2-1 victories in Troy and Potsdam. The Knights still hold a slim lead all-time in the series with a 4-3-1 mark. Clarkson’s last win was a 3-0 victory, the only shutout in the rivalry, on January 26, 2008 at Houston Field House.
