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photo by Jim Meagher

Clarkson Women Open ECAC Playoffs Hosting Colgate

2/26/2020 10:27:00 AM

ECAC Hockey playoff action returns to Cheel Arena once again as Clarkson hosts a league quarterfinal series for the ninth consecutive season. The Golden Knights will face a familiar postseason opponent when they battle Colgate in the best-of-three games series. The rivals will face off on Friday at 6:00 p.m., Saturday at 3:00 p.m., and will meet in a deciding Game 3 on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. if necessary. If the Knights defeat the Raiders, they will advance to the ECAC Hockey Championship Tournament for the eighth consecutive year, to be held at the home site of the highest remaining seed next Saturday and Sunday.

Three-time defending conference tournament champion, Clarkson finished the 2019-20 ECAC Hockey slate in third place in the 12-team conference with a 14-4-4 league record and earned the #3 seed in the eight-team playoffs. Ranked 7th in the national polls, Clarkson has skated to its ninth straight 20-win campaign with a 23-5-6 overall record.

 Other ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals Series
 #8 St. Lawrence  at #1 Cornell, #7 Quinnipiac at #2 Princeton, #5 Yale at #4 Harvard
 
• Clarkson has a 23-11-5 record over Colgate in the all-time series. The Knights took three of four points From the Raiders during the regular season, winning 2-1 in Potsdam on November 8 and tying 2-2 in Hamilton on February 1. 
• Clarkson and Colgate are used to playing in big games over the last few years and this time will be no different with a trip to next weekend's ECAC Hockey Championship Tournament on the line. The Knights and Raiders have played in three playoff games the last two seasons, with Clarkson owning a 3-0 record in those contests. Clarkson shut out Colgate 2-0 in the league's semifinals last year and took down the Raiders in the 2018 conference championship game (3-0), followed by a 2-1 overtime victory in the 2018 NCAA national title game. 
• The Knights have only lost five games over the last nine seasons against Colgate. Clarkson is 10-6-2 against the Raiders at Cheel Arena. Colgate's last win in Potsdam was a 4-3 overtime triumph last year on February 9.  
• Clarkson, which has qualified for the ECAC Hockey playoffs in every year it has been eligible, is 30-20 through 15 seasons of league postseason play. The Knights are 21-14 in the quarterfinal round having won nine of their 15 series, including the past seven. 
• The Knights are 26-6 in ECAC postseason action at Cheel. 
• A Top 10 Finalist for the Patty Kazmaier Award, Elizabeth Giguere is the leading goal scorer in NCAA Hockey with 35 tallies in 34 games. The junior right wing is coming off remarkable weekend when she scored five of the Knights' six goals and assisted on the other in the Green and Gold's road sweep at Harvard (4-1) and Dartmouth (2-1). Giguere has 63 points on the season and is seven points away from breaking Loren Gabel's' 19 all-time Clarkson scoring mark of 213 points. Giguere has 88 goals and 119 assists through 115 career games.
• Sophomore goaltender Marie-Pier Coulombe 
was named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week for the third time this season. She
ranks third in the nation is save percentage (.950) and goals against average (1.20). She has started the last 24 games and owns a 21-5-5 record with six shutouts.
• Clarkson is ranked third nationally in defense, allowing only 1.44 GPG, and 11th offensively, 3.12 gpg.
• The Knights are 20-0-1 when leading through two periods.
• Clarkson is 17-1-3 when scoring first.

Series Colgate: This weekend will mark the first time Clarkson and Colgate have faced off in the ECAC quarterfinal round, but it is far from the first time the two squads have met in the playoffs. The Golden Knights are 23-11-5 against the Raiders all-time and are 4-0 in playoff games. Clarkson and Colgate have played at Cheel Arena only once in their postseason history with the Green and Gold skating to a 3-0 ECAC Final win during the 2017-18 season. Later on that season, the Knights and Raiders took their budding rivalry to the national stage facing off in the first ever all-ECAC national championship game. Elizabeth Giguere scored a dazzling overtime game-winner to lift Clarkson its third national title in school history and its second in as many years. Since that championship tilt, the series has been deadlocked at 2-2-1 over the last five games. In Potsdam this year Clarkson fought to a 2-1 win behind a two-goal day from Giguere. The series shifted back to Hamilton later in the year and a late Ella Shelton tally helped force a 2-2 tie. Giguere has been nothing short of sensational against the Raiders scoring five goals and tallying ten assists for 15 points in nine games. Michaela Pejzlova has had her hand in eight goals scoring four and assisting on four others. In two games this year Marie-Pier Coulombe has been strong in goal against Colgate allowing just three goals on 49 shots for a .939 save percentage and a 1.44 goals against average. 

Scouting Colgate: Colgate skates into the playoffs with a 17-13-6 overall record and finished 6th in the ECAC with an 11-8-3 mark. After losing to Harvard (3-4) and Yale (3-5) in mid-February, Colgate was forced to win out to prevent falling further in the standings. The Raiders ended their regular season with three straight wins over Brown (6-2), Union (7-0), and RPI (9-0) to hold off Quinnipiac for 6th place. Colgate has played a variety of top-10 teams this year, but found little success going 1-9-3 in 13 games. The Raiders will be outside their comfort zone this weekend as they have struggled all year when away from Hamilton, going 5-8-1 in road games, and 1-2-1 in neutral site games. Colgate is in the midst of a youth movement after graduating four of their top-5 scorers from a year ago. Freshmen forwards Sammy Smigliani and Danielle Serdachny have been up to the challenge and are leading the team in scoring. Smigliani finished the regular season with a team-high 33 points, which was the most of any freshman in the ECAC. Smigliani also has scored a team-leading 14 goals for the Raiders this season. Serdachny has been equally impressive scoring 10 goals and leading the team in helpers with 22. Senior goaltender Liz Auby has brought great stability to a young lineup by starting 33 of the team's 36 games. Auby owns a 15-12-6 record with a 1.97 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. Auby is also tied for 4th in the country in shutouts with six. 
 
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