Coming off its most convincing win in quite some time, the Clarkson University Hockey team takes a break from ECAC Hockey action when it travels to Rochester, NY on Friday to play Atlantic Hockey foe Rochester Institute of Technology in a 7:00 p.m. game at Ritter Arena.

Guided by second-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy ’00 and Andy Jones, the Golden Knights are 2-1-4 since late October. Clarkson owns a 2-5-4 overall record and is tied for fifth place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 2-1-1 conference mark. After the non-league game at RIT, which begins a five-game road trip, the Green and Gold resume conference action at Central NY foes Cornell and Colgate on November 30 and December 1.

Friday's game at RIT is scheduled to broadcast live by Time Warner Cable from Ritter Arena

With a balanced offensive effort, highlighted by a career-best four-point outing from junior Allan McPherson (Kinburn, ONT), and a stingy defensive performance backed up in goal by freshman Greg Lewis (Mars, PA) Clarkson rolled to its first ECAC Hockey win of the season with a dominating 7-2 victory over Princeton before 2,313 fans at Cheel Arena on Saturday. The Knights regrouped against the Tigers after suffering a 5-2 loss to Quinnipiac on Friday in Potsdam and enjoyed their most productive outing since soundly defeating Sacred Heart 9-2 on December 12, 2010.

Seven different Knights scored goals in the win over a streaking Princeton squad which had gone 2-0-1 in its first three league games. The Green and Gold led throughout, holding a 1-0 lead in the opening minute and extending their margin to 2-1 after the first period. Clarkson added four more goals in the middle frame and closed out the contest with a third-period score to complete its most dominating ECAC Hockey victory since shutting out Quinnipiac 8-0 in Potsdam on March 1, 2008.

McPherson, Clarkson’s leading scorer, paced the Knights with one goal and a career-high three assists. He now has 13 points on three goals and 10 assists through 11 games. Juniors, captain Ben Sexton (Kanata, ONT) and Jarrett Burton (Echo Bay, ONT) tallied one goal and two assists apiece. Junior Will Frederick (Allison Park, PA), sophomore Joe Zarbo (Grand Island, NY) and rookie defenseman Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) collected one goal and one assist apiece. Freshman Todd Christian (Norwalk, CT) set the tone for the night when he scored his first collegiate goals just 57 seconds after the opening faceoff.

RIT, which made a NCAA Frozen Four appearance in 2010, has struggled in the early going of the 2012-13 campaign owning a 2-7-2 overall record. The Tigers, guided by 14th-year head coach Wayne Wilson, post a 1-4-2 Atlantic Hockey mark and are 0-3-1 over the past four games. RIT lost (7-3) and tied (3-3) at Holy Cross this past weekend.

RIT started strong to open the season with a 5-4 win over perennial powerhouse Michigan at Munn Arena in Ann Arbor on October 11. Since that impressive victory, the Tigers have just a 3-0 shutout on the road over America International on November 3 to show in their win column. RIT has yet to win at home, this year posting a 0-3-0 record at Ritter Arena. In its only other action against an ECAC Hockey foe, RIT lost 6-3 at Colgate on October 26.

The Series:

The Knights have won seven straight over RIT and lead the series, which started with a 3-0 Clarkson win on October 29, 1983 in Potsdam, 10-2-1. In the teams’ last meeting, the Green and Gold knocked off the Tigers 5-3 at Cheel Arena on October 17, 2009. Clarkson opened the 2008-09 campaign with a 6-4 victory over the Tigers in Rochester on October 17 in its only appearance at Ritter Arena. RIT’s last win over Clarkson was a 4-3 victory in the first round of the 1986 Syracuse Invitational on December 27. Adam Pawlick and Nik Pokulok are the only current Golden Knights to have played against RIT. Pawlick has one goal in the series.

Knight Notes:

After combining for six goals in their first three ECAC Hockey games this season, the Golden Knights broke out with seven tallies in Saturday’s victory over Princeton, Clarkson’s first win at Cheel Arena … The Knights started early with freshman Todd Christian’s first collegiate goal just 57 seconds after the opening faceoff … The Green and Gold broke the game against the Tigers open in the second stanza with their most productive period of the season, outscoring Princeton 4-0 … Clarkson’s leading scorer Allan McPherson led the way on Saturday with a career-high four points, including three assists. He recorded 23 points in each of his first two seasons and has already tallied 13 points through 11 games this year with three goals and 10 assists … McPherson and sophomore defenseman James Howden (Edgeley, SASK) share the team lead in plus/minus at +6 … Ben Sexton posted his second three-point game of the season in Saturday’s win with one goal and two assists. He has 10 points on four goals and six assists … Jarrett Burton, who combined for five total goals through his first two years, has already scored a team-high six goals in the first 11 games of 2012-13. He has nine points on the season after posting eight (3-5) and six (2-4) points, respectively in his freshman and sophomore campaigns … A top power forward for the Green and Gold, Will Frederick’s hard work is finally paying off. On Saturday against Princeton he set up the first goal just 57 seconds in with a strong rush to the net, followed by the game-winning goal, his first score of the season. In the 2-2 tie at Canisius (11/4), Frederick had the lone assist on Clarkson’s second goal. In the the 1-0 victory at Yale (11/9) he recorded the only assist on the game-winner … Freshman defenseman Paul Geiger leads the Knights in scoring from the blueline with five points. He tallied his first two collegiate goals this past weekend … Senior defenseman Nik Pokulok (Vaudreuil-Dorion, QUE) scored his fifth career goal and first since March 5, 2011 in Friday’s game against Quinnipiac … Senior assistant captain Andrew Himelson (Monroe, NY), who has been hampered by injuries this season, enjoyed a two-assist outing from the blueline in Saturday’s win over Princeton for his first points of the season … Sophomore Joe Zarbo, who did not dress for the series at Yale and Brown (11/9-10), tallied a power-play marker and added an assist against Princeton … Playing in his second career game, sophomore defenseman JD Carrabino (New Canaan, CT) notched an assist on Saturday for his first point with the Golden Knights … Greg Lewis has started the last five games in the Clarkson crease and has played in 10 games overall. He posts a .897 save percentage and a 2.86 goals against average en route to a 2-4-3 record ... Clarkson has gone 0-2-3 against Atlantic Hockey foes this season with all three ties coming in their last meetings (4-4 vs Niagara, 3-3 and 2-2 at Canisius) ... The RIT game begins a five-game road trip for the Green and Gold, who will not play again in Potsdam until hosting Mercyhurst on December 15 at Cheel Arena in the final game of the 2012 portion of the schedule.