Along with winning the National Championship last season, the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team also claimed the ECAC Hockey regular-season and tournament titles. The Golden Knights begin defense of their conference regular-season championship this weekend at Cheel Arena against a pair of highly rated league foes.

In what might be considered Clarkson's toughest home weekend in ECAC Hockey play this season, the Green and Gold battle central, NY rivals Colgate and Cornell. The Knights face off against the 5th-ranked Raiders at 6:00 p.m. on Friday and then take on last year's conference tournament championship and NCAA Regional foe, the 9th-ranked Big Red at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

PDF of Colgate-Cornell Weekend Series Notes
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Guided by 10th-year head coach Matt Desrosiers and assistant Britni Smith and Tony Maci, Clarkson is ranked second in the national polls with a 7-0-1 record. The Knights are unbeaten in their last 24 games (22-0-2), dating back to January 20. Clarkson skated past 6th-ranked St. Lawrence this past weekend in a pair of non-league games. The Knights knocked off the unbeaten Saints 4-2 at Appleton Arena in Canton on Friday and then overwhelmed their North Country neighbor before a record crowd of 2,679 fans at Cheel Arena on Saturday, winning 6-1 to close out NCAA National Championship Banner Raising day in style.

•    The Knights are ranked fifth in Division I in scoring defense, allowing only 1.12 goals per game, and are tied for ninth in scoring offense, averaging 3.38 goals per game. Both the Clarkson power play (8-29, 27.6%) and penalty kill (35-38, 92.1%) are rated fifth in the country.
•    Elizabeth Giguere is certainly making a name for herself at the start of her collegiate career. The freshman sensation was named ECAC Hockey Player and Rookie of the Week (third time this season) and was selected as NCAA Ice Hockey Third Star of the Week. Giguere figured in on seven of the Knights' 10 goals in the weekend sweep of St. Lawrence. She scored the first two goals, including a highlight-reel tally with less than a second left in the opening period, in Friday's win over the Saints. The right wing followed that up with five points, on a goal and four assists, in Saturday's victory at Cheel. Giguere leads the Green and Gold in scoring with 14 points on seven goals and seven assists through the first eight games of her collegiate career.
•    Coming off a strong junior season, highlighted by her stellar performance in last year's postseason championship run, Shea Tiley looks to be better than ever in her final collegiate campaign. Tiley was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week for the second time this season. She was the only conference goalie to win two games over the weekend, combining for 38 saves on 41 shots in the sweep of St. Lawrence. Tiley made 15 stops in Friday's victory in Canton and turned aside 23 shots in the big win on Saturday at Cheel Arena to record her 86th career victory. Playing every minute in the Clarkson crease through the first eight games, Tiley boasts a .947 save percentage and 1.11 goals against average.
•    Loren Gabel has recorded at least one point in seven of the first eight games. She is Clarkson's second leading scorer with 12 points on five goals and seven assists and tops the team in plus/minus at +10. Gabel has five, two-point games this season and is closing in on 100 career points with 45 goals and 36 assists through 89 games.
•    Clarkson's captain, Savannah Harmon is bidding to become the second Golden Knight defenseman to reach the century club, joining Erin Ambrose '16 on the elite list. Harmon has two goals and four assists this season and 85 career points (24-61) through 127 games. Both of her tallies have come on the power play, ranking her tied for eighth in the country for power-play goals. 

Scouting Colgate and Cornell
Colgate is one of only two teams in the NCAA, which has played more than two games, that is still perfect on the season. The 5th-ranked Raiders stand at 6-0-0, having played all their games at home in Hamilton, NY. Colgate swept Mercyhurst 4-3 in overtime and 4-1 this past weekend. The Raiders are tied for third in the NCAA in offense with 4.00 gpg and third in defense, allowing only 1.00 gpg.

Cornell opens it season at St. Lawrence on Friday. The Big Red defeated Shenzhen Vanke Rays 5-1 in an exhibition game on October 13 at Lynah Rink. Last year's Clarkson MVP, Cayley Mercer played defense for the CWHL's Vanke Rays in that game.

The Series:
Clarkson has won nine of the last 10 meetings against Colgate, including four straight, to take an 18-8-4 lead in the all-time series. Last season, the Knights edged the Raiders 2-1 at Cheel Arena on January 21 and then gained a 5-2 victory at Colgate on February 17. The Raiders' last win over Clarkson was a 4-3 overtime triumph in Potsdam on December 4, 2015. The Knights hold an 8-4-2 mark against Colgate at Cheel. Loren Gabel is one of six Knights, who have scored a goal in the series, and has a team-high five points (1-4) against the Raiders. Through eight games, Shea Tiley is 6-1-1 against Colgate with a .901 save percentage and a 1.97 goals against average.

The Knights posted three big wins over Cornell late last season en route to the national championship title.  Clarkson knocked off the Big Red at Lynah Rink 5-4 in overtime in the regular-season finale on February 18, and took down Cornell twice in postseason play. The Green and Gold won their first ever ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship game with a 1-0 win over Cornell at Cheel  on March 5 and then earned a 3-1 victory in Potsdam over the Big Red the following week in the NCAA Regional on March 11. Cornell is the last team to defeat Clarkson, winning 2-1 at Cheel on January 20. The Knights lead the all-time series 18-13-4, including a 12-6-2 record at Cheel. Loren Gabel and Josiane Pozzebon have tallied seven (5-2) and six (2-4) points respectively in the series and Rhyen McGill has added four goals. Tiley posts a .904 save percentage and a 2.15 GAA en route to a 6-3-2 record against the Big Red.