With four games remaining in the ECAC Hockey schedule, including the final home dates of the regular season at Cheel Arena this weekend, the Clarkson University Hockey team is still in the mix to place among the top four teams in the league standings and earn a first-round bye in the upcoming conference playoffs. Guided by first-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy ’00 and Andy Jones, the Golden Knights own a 14-13-5 overall record and hold down fifth place in ECAC Hockey with an 8-7-3 conference mark.

Led by senior captain Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY) and assistant captains, grad student Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) and sophomore Ben Sexton (Kanata, ONT), Clarkson faces a challenging task this weekend hosting two of the top teams in the country. On Friday, the Knights battle 12th-ranked Cornell, followed by Saturday’s matchup against Colgate, the top scoring team in ECAC Hockey. Both games are 7:00 p.m. faceoffs.

This Saturday, in the regular-season home finale, Clarkson will honor the four-year veterans during Senior Night. Clarkson’s Class of 2012 – Julien Cayer (Longueuil, QUE), Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT), Richie LaVeau (Arlington Heights, IL), Jake Morley, Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT), Corey Tamblyn (Bobcaygeon, ONT) and Nick Tremblay, will make their final regular-season appearance before the home crowd this weekend. Over their four-year careers, the Knights’ seniors have compiled 48 victories and are on the verge of leading the Green and Gold to their best season in four years.

Clarkson, which can still finish anywhere in the standings, trails Harvard by one point for fourth place and is four points behind third-place Colgate. The Knights, however, are also just one point in front of sixth-place Quinnipiac and four points ahead of Dartmouth and Yale, who are tied for eighth.

The central New York rivals have proven to be the Knights’ toughest opponents over the past several years with Clarkson on a current 17-game winless skid combined against Cornell (0-6-2) and Colgate (0-7-2). The last time Clarkson defeated either of the two teams was during the 2007-08 campaign.

The Knights close out the regular season at Dartmouth and Harvard on February 24-25.

This past Saturday, Clarkson squandered an excellent opportunity to move up in the standings, suffering the heart-breaking 7-6 loss to Quinnipiac. The Knights, who led 6-5 after two periods, lost for the first time this season (10-1-2) when holding the advantage through 40 minutes as the Bobcats scored the game’s final three goals to hand Clarkson only its third loss this season at Cheel.

On Friday, three different Knights scored as Clarkson twice overcame one-goal deficits to earn a 3-2 victory against Princeton.

Challenging for the ECAC Regular-Season title, Cornell is on a four-game unbeaten streak (2-0-2) and is 6-2-5 since late December. Guided by 17th-year head coach Mike Schafer, the Big Red stand at 13-6-6 overall and are one point behind league leader Union with a 10-3-5 conference mark. Cornell gained a weekend sweep at Lynah Rink last weekend, defeating Brown 5-2 and Yale 4-2. The Big Red are 5-2-4 in away games. The only losses Cornell has suffered in the New Year was a weekend sweep by Colgate (2-1, 3-5) in a home-and-home series on January 27-28.

Entering the North Country with a three-game winning streak, Colgate, which plays at St. Lawrence on Friday, owns a 17-10-3 overall record and is in third place in the standings with an 11-6-1 ECAC Hockey slate. Guided by 19th-year head coach Don Vaughan, the Raiders defeated Yale (4-2) and Brown (7-6) at home over the weekend. Colgate is 7-7 in away games.

The Series:

The lone ECAC Hockey team to hold an advantage over Clarkson in its all-time series, Cornell is the Knights’ oldest current rival having first played during the 1922-23 campaign with the teams battling to a 0-0 tie in Ithaca. The Big Red lead the rivalry against the Knights 57-49-13. Cornell holds a current eight-game unbeaten streak (6-0-2) in the series. In their first ECAC meeting this season, Clarkson and Cornell skated to a 0-0 tie at Lynah Rink in Ithaca on December 3. At the Florida Tournament on December 30, the Big Red skated to a 5-3 victory in the consolation contest.

Last season, the Big Red skated past Clarkson 6-1 at Cheel Arena on November 6 and knocked off the Green and Gold 5-2 at Lynah on February 4. Cornell swept the Knights in 2009-10, winning 3-1 at Cheel on January 15 and 5-3 in Ithaca on January 30. Clarkson took two from the Big Red during the 2007-08 campaign, winning 4-2 at Lynah Rink (1/20) and 4-1 at Cheel Arena (2/8), for its first conference sweep in the rivalry since the 1998-99 campaign and its last victories in the series. Clarkson holds a 10-7-5 record against Cornell at Cheel.

Corey Tamblyn is Clarkson’s leading scorer against Cornell with four points, including two goals through six games. Ben Sexton has scored twice in one game (12/30) against the Big Red. Paul Karpowich has played seven games against the Big Red, posting a .892 save percentage, a 3.09 goals against average and a 0-5-2 record. He made 32 saves in the 0-0 tie earlier this month, but missed the game in Florida due to an illness.

Clarkson leads the Raiders in their all-time series, which began during the 1927-28 campaign, 80-46-15. Colgate, however, is unbeaten against the Green and Gold over the last nine meetings (7-0-2), and is 8-2-7 over the last 17. Colgate gained a 4-2 win in Hamilton on December 2 in the first meeting this season.

The Knights stopped a three-game losing skid to Colgate in their first meeting last year, skating to a 4-4 tie at Cheel Arena on November 5, but the Raiders came back with a 4-2 victory at Starr Rink on February 5. The two New York State rivals have battled to six ties over the past 12 regular-season meetings. Clarkson’s last win in the series was a 1-0 triumph in Game 1 of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series in Potsdam on March 14, 2008. Colgate is the only team in the conference not to have a losing record at Cheel Arena, having posted a 9-9-7 mark against the Knights in the 21-year-old building. The Raiders are 2-0-1 in their last three visits to Potsdam and are unbeaten in their last eight regular-season (3-0-5) meetings at Cheel. Clarkson’s last regular-season win over Colgate in Potsdam was a 6-0 triumph on January 4, 2003.

Jarrett Burton (1-1), Julien Cayer (1-1), Louke Oakley (0-2) and Nick Tremblay (0-2) lead the Knights’ offense against the Raiders with two points each. Paul Karpowich is 0-3-2 with a .899 save percentage and a 3.87 GAA against the Raiders.

Knight Notes:

The Sexton Line is fast becoming one of the more productive lines in ECAC Hockey. With sophomore left wing Allan McPherson (Kinburn, ONT) and freshman right wing Patrick Marsh (Oakville, ONT) centered by Ben Sexton, the trio has accounted for 17 points in the past four games ... Sexton is the Knights’ third-leading scorer and is averaging over a point per game with seven goals and 17 assists through 20 contests. Since returning to the lineup at the Florida Tr. (12/29) after an injury, the 2009 Boston Bruins draft choice (7th rd, 206 overall) has 15 points (4-11) in 12 games and is on a current five-game streak (1-8). Sexton headlines the Knights’ power-play with a team-high five goals along with nine assists on the man-advantage. Through 32 career games, he has recorded 32 points (12-20) … McPherson has a three-game goal-scoring streak and leads the team in game-winners with four. He is Clarkson’s fourth-leading scorer with 19 points (9-10) ... After sitting out the first 10 games of the season, Marsh has steadily gained confidence in his rookie campaign and has a current four-game point streak (1-3). He has three goals and three assists through 19 games and shares the team lead in +/- at +7 ... Clarkson’s top two leading scorers, Nick Tremblay and Louke Oakley picked up their scoring pace after being held off the scoresheet in in the loss at Yale (2/4) ... Oakley has a team-high 31 points (14-17) and has accumulated 13 points (6-7) in the past eight games. He scored three goals and an assist this past weekend ... Tremblay has 30 points (14-16) and has put up 15 points (5-10) in the last 10 games ... Sam Labrecque (Granby, QUE), who missed Saturday’s game vs Quinnipiac, tallied on the power play in the win over Princeton. He is the Knights’ leading rookie scorer with 18 points (6-12) from the blueline ... Jake Morley posted his second career two-goal game with a pair of scores vs Quinnipiac ... Chase Fuchs (Severna Park, MD), who played on the blueline in place of the injured Labrecque in Saturday’s game against Quinnipiac, recorded his third career assist. Fuchs is tied for the team plus/minus lead with a +7 in seven games ... Paul Karpowich holds the program’s record for career saves at 3,517 through 123 games. He is tied for third in the country in shutouts with five. Karpowich posts a .923 save percentage and a 2.41 GAA … The Knights are 10-1-2 when leading through 40 minutes after suffering their first loss of the season when holding a two-period advantage in Saturday’s 7-6 setback to Quinnipiac ... The six goals the Knights scored against the Bobcats was their highest offensive total since putting up nine in the win at Sacred Heart last season (12/12/10) … The seven goals allowed was the most given up by Clarkson since Union scored eight times in a win in Schenectady on January 8, 2011 ... Clarkson is 233-103-37 in 21 years at Cheel Arena, including a 9-3-1 record this season.