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Weekend Series vs UMD Highlights Thanksgiving Holiday for Clarkson Women's Hockey

11/21/2018 3:49:00 PM

Looking to get back on track after a rare loss in ECAC Hockey play, Clarkson University faces one of its sternest tests of the season as it host WCHA power Minnesota Duluth this weekend in non-league action at Cheel Arena. 

Ranked 3rd in the country, the Golden Knights, guided by 11th-year head coach Matt Desrosiers and assistants Britni Smith and Tony Maci, stand at 10-2 overall and 3-1 in ECAC Hockey play after a split on the road in New England. Clarkson overwhelmed Brown 9-1 in Providence, RI last Friday before seeing a six-game winning streak end on Saturday in New Haven, CT with a 5-1 loss at Yale.

UMD Weekend Series Notes
USCHO.com Poll
USA Today Poll
Coaches Corner with Mike Vaillancourt


• Clarkson and Minnesota Duluth are facing off against each other for the first time.
• Two-time defending National Champions, Clarkson is striving to become the first women's hockey program to win three straight NCAA titles since Minnesota Duluth claimed the championships in the inaugural years of the Division I Tournament (2001-2003).
• Between them, Clarkson and Minnesota Duluth have claimed almost half of the the NCAA Titles over the past 19 years with the Knights winning three (2014, 2017, 2018) and the Bulldogs capturing five (2001, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2010).
• Clarkson is 6-0-0 at Cheel Arena this season, outscoring opponents 24-9 on its home ice. The Green and Gold have won their last 20 games in Potsdam with their last home defeat, a 4-3 overtime setback to Quinnipiac on November 17, 2017,
• Despite the loss at Yale, where the Knights were held to their lowest goal total of the season, the Green and Gold still boast the most prolific offense in Division I, averaging 4.42 goals per game. 
• Three of the top six scorers in the country power Clarkson up front. Left wing Loren Gabel leads the country, averaging 2.20 points per game on nine goals and 13 assists through 10 games. Right wing Elizabeth Giguere is tied for most points in Division I with 24 on 11 goals and 13 assists through 12 games. Michaela Pejzlova, who centers the nation's top line, is Clarkson's third-leading scorer with 21 points (9-12). Giguere is looking to join her linemates in the century club as she enters the weekend with 95 career points (38-57) in just 53 games.
• Graduate student T.T. Cianfarano has been a nice addition to the Green and Gold lineup. ECAC Hockey Player of the Year in her sophomore campaign (2015-16) at Quinnipiac, Cianfarano has tallied 16 points (7-9) and leads the team in game winners with three.
• Shelton, who shares the best plus/minus (+15) among Division I defensemen, powers the Knights' offensive effort from the blueline with 13 points, including 11 assists. 
• Sophomore forward Tia Stoddard is coming off a career game at Brown where she recorded two goals and two assists. 
• Senior Cassidy Vinkle serves as Clarkson's Captain, while Josiane Pozzebon and Shelton act as assistant captains.
• This weekend's games against Minnesota-Duluth will be the Knights' final non-conference games before the Friendship Four in early January. Clarkson will play two games against Northeastern in Belfast, Northern Ireland on January 5-6. for its final out-of-conference action of the regular season.

Series vs. Minnesota Duluth
This weekend will be the first-ever matchup between the Golden Knights and Minnesota Duluth. Only one player for Clarkson has played against the Bulldogs. While playing for Ohio State, graduate transfer goaltender Kassidy Sauve saw Minnesota Duluth frequently. Sauve went up against the Bulldogs 10 times. The Buckeyes lost eight times with Sauve in net during her first three seasons. During Sauve's senior year, she was finally able to take down Minnesota Duluth in back-to-back games, including a shutout win in Columbus. 

Scouting Minnesota-Duluth
Facing the strongest strength-of-schedule to start the season, the Bulldogs enter the weekend with an overall record of 5-6-1 and a WCHA mark of 3-6-1. Minnesota Duluth has been streaky thus far this season and enters this matchup on a three-game losing streak. In late October, Minnesota Duluth split a road series with St. Cloud State, and then had two weekends without NCAA action. The Bulldogs did faceoff against the Minnesota Whitecaps of the NWHL in exhibition play on November 3 losing 5-1. This past weekend in their first collegiate games since Halloween, Minnesota Duluth fell 3-1 in back-to-back games to 6th-ranked Ohio State in Columbus. 

The Bulldogs have a balanced offense with eight players recording between five and nine points. Naomi Rogge leads the way with nine points on a team-leading six goals and three assists. Ryleigh Houston and Gabbie Hughes each have scored four goals and have assisted on four others for eight points apiece. After winning a Gold Medal with Team USA in Pyeongchang last February,  Maddie Rooney has done the heavy lifting for Minnesota Duluth in goal, starting nine of the team's 11 games. Rooney is 4-4-1with a goals against average of 2.33 and a save percentage of .930. Emma Soderberg is 1-1-0 in two starts and has a goals against average of 3.00 to go along with a save percentage of .853.
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