Playing at Cheel Arena for the first time in almost two months, the Clarkson University Hockey team started off the 2012 portion of the ECAC Hockey schedule with a three-point weekend to gain some much needed momentum for the second-half stretch of the league campaign.

Guided by first-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy’00 and Andy Jones, the Golden Knights skated to a 2-2 tie against Brown on Saturday and then came from behind to knock off defending conference tournament champion Yale 5-4 in overtime on Sunday. Led by senior captain Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY) and assistant captains, grad student Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) and sophomore Ben Sexton (Kanata, ONT), Clarkson owns a 10-10-5 overall record and is tied for sixth place in the conference standings with a 4-4-3 ECAC Hockey mark.

The Green and Gold will look to use the energy generated from Sunday’s dramatic victory when they host archrival St. Lawrence this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Knights and Saints will meet for the third time this season to decide the regular-season series between the North Country foes. Clarkson defeated St. Lawrence in conference play, 5-3 in Canton on December 6, while the Saints posted a 4-1 non-league win in Lake Placid on December 10.

Trailing 3-1 late in the second period against Yale, Clarkson relied upon its specialty teams to snap a five-game winless skid (0-4-1). Freshman defenseman Sam Labrecque (Granby, QUE) scored on the power play with 61 seconds left in overtime to lift the Green and Gold to their first victory since defeating St. Lawrence in early December. The Knights went 3-of-5 with the man-advantage and held Yale’s vaunted power play to just one goal in six opportunities. Along with solid defensive play on the blueline, Labrecque finished with two goals and one assist. He was named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week. Senior Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) led all scorers with a career-high four points (2-2). Sexton, with a power-play marker and one assist, and Tremblay, with two assists, also played prominent roles in the victory.

The Knights also battled back against Brown on Saturday, twice overcoming one-goal deficits to gain a tie. Clarkson put a season-high 41 shots on goal, but could only get scores from sophomore Will Frederick (Allison Park, PA) and Tremblay.

Oakley leads a balanced scoring effort for the Knights with 22 points, including 12 assists. Tremblay follows with 19 points and shares the goal-scoring lead with Oakley with 10 tallies. Labrecque powers the offense from the blueline with 16 points (4-12).

Senior Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT), who is regarded as one of the top goaltenders in the nation, posts a .934 save percentage, a 2.06 goals against average and is tied for second in the country for shutouts with five. Karpowich, who has started 23 games this season, is 56 stops shy of breaking the Knights’ all-time save record. He has 3,320 saves through 116 games.

St. Lawrence, which entered the New Year on a roll and took a five-game unbeaten streak (3-0-2) into early January, has slipped a bit and is winless in its last three games (0-2-1). The Saints, with associate coach Mike Hurlbut at the helm, owns an 8-12-3 overall record and is tied for 10th in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 4-6-1 league mark. St. Lawrence picked up one point at home over the weekend with a 3-3 tie against Yale and a 4-1 loss to Brown. The Saints, who are 2-6 in their last eight games at Cheel, are 3-4-1 in away games this season.

The Series:

The Golden Knights hold an overwhelming 115-65-9 series lead against the Saints, which began with a 1-0 Clarkson victory during the 1925-26 season. The North Country rivals have played two times this season with the Green and Gold skating to a 5-3 ECAC Hockey victory in Canton on December 6. Four days later in a non-league matchup, St. Lawrence defeated Clarkson 4-1 in Lake Placid on December 10.

In 2010-11, Clarkson defeated St. Lawrence three times in one season for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign. The Knights are 18-16-2 against their archrival in games played during the 2000s. Through the first 20 seasons at Cheel Arena, Clarkson is 19-6-1 against the Saints. St. Lawrence’s last win in Potsdam was a 4-3 victory on December 5, 2009.

Corey Tamblyn (2-4) leads the Green and Gold in scoring against the Saints with seven points (3-4). He tallied one goal and one assist in the December 6 victory, and netted the Knights’ lone goal in the loss in Lake Placid. Nick Tremblay and Jake Morley have both scored three goals and three assists in the series against SLU. In five games against St. Lawrence, Matt Zarbo has tallied four goals, including two game-winners, and one assist. His younger brother, Joe, tallied one goal and an assist in his first game in the rivalry.

Paul Karpowich posts a .919 save percentage, a 2.48 goals against average and a 7-6-1 record through 821:44 minutes of play against SLU.

Knight Notes:

In its first action at Cheel Arena since November 19, Clarkson took three of four points in ECAC Hockey play. The Knights dominated Brown on Saturday, outshooting the Bears 41-17, but had to settle for a 2-2 tie. On Sunday, in a game that was postponed from Friday due to inclement weather in the North Country, Clarkson rallied for the first time this season when trailing after the opening period (1-5-2) to gain its first overtime win of the season (1-0-5) with the 5-4 victory over Yale … The Green and Gold are 2-0-2 in their last four league games and 3-1-2 in conference action since November 19 … Clarkson’s leading rookie scorer and top offensive threat from the blueline, Sam Labrecque scored his first collegiate game-winning goal in Sunday’s triumph over the Bulldogs, capping off a career three-point night (2-1) for the rookie rearguard. He was named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week. Labrecque headlines the Knights’ power play with 11 (3-8) of his 16 (4-12) points coming on the man-advantage. He opened Clarkson’s scoring against Yale with his first goal since October 29 … Louke Oakley, the Knights’ leading scorer had a career day against Yale with four points on two goals and two assists, all on Clarkson’s last four goals as the Knights overcame a 3-1 deficit. He has 22 points and shares the team lead in goals (10) and assists (12). He had just one goal in the previous eight games … Against one of the top power-play and penalty-killing teams in the country, Clarkson enjoyed one of its best games of the season on specialty teams in the win over Yale. The Knights equaled a season-high three power-play goals (3-5) and killed off 5-of-6 Yale man-advantage opportunities. Clarkson had tallied just three PPG combined over the previous nine games (3-of-41). Through 25 games, Clarkson is 21-122 (17.2%) on the power play and 114-135 (84.4%) on the penalty kill … The return of Ben Sexton to the lineup after missing 12 games with an injury has sparked the power play. He has a team-high five PPG, including two since rejoining the lineup on December 29. He is averaging a point per game with six goals and seven assists through 13 games … Nick Tremblay is second in Clarkson scoring with 19 points, including 10 goals. He has the team’s current longest point-scoring streak at three games (1-3) … Senior Corey Tamblyn (Bobcaygeon, ONT) has tallied at least one point in five of the last seven games, and is fourth on the team in scoring with 15 points (7-8) … Will Frederick is having a solid sophomore campaign with seven points (3-4) and is among the Knights’ plus/minus leaders with a +7 … Paul Karpowich is ranked among the top goaltenders in the nation with a .934 save percentage (3rd) and a 2.06 goals against average (11th), and is tied for second in the country in shutouts (5). He is closing in on the all-time save record at Clarkson with 3,320 through 116 games. The Knights’ all-time record is 3,375 saves by Dan Murphy ’98 in 135 games from 1994-98 ... Mark Borowiecki is the latest former Golden Knight to join the National Hockey League. Borowiecki was called up to the Ottawa Senators on Janaury17 from Binghamton in the AHL. Last year’s captain and a standout defenseman, Borowiecki left Clarkson after his junior year to pursue his professional career ... Dave Seitz ‘96, who scored 105 points (45-60) through 128 games with the Knights from 1992-96, was inducted into the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) Hall of Fame this week. Seitz was an all-star for the South Carolina Stingrays after graduating from Clarkson ... Clarkson will hold its annual "Skate With a Knight" this Sunday, January 22 from 12 noon-1:00 p.m at Cheel Arena.