Behind another solid defensive outing and a balanced scoring effort, the Clarkson University Hockey team became the first opponent to earn a victory at the brand new Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester as the Golden Knights skated past RIT 3-1 on Saturday to complete a weekend sweep of Atlantic Hockey foes in Western New York.

Clarkson, which defeated Niagara 3-1 on Friday night, will look to improve upon its 2-0 start when it battles Hockey East foe University of Vermont in a home-and-home series next weekend. The Knights close out a three-game road trip when they battle the Catamounts in Burlington on Friday and then open up the home portion of the schedule on Saturday when they hosts the Cats in a 7:00 p.m. game at Cheel Arena.

Junior Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT), sophomore Jordan Boucher (St. Therese, QUE) and freshman Nic Pierog (Georgetown, ONT) supplied the goals and sophomore Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA) made 20 saves in the Clarkson goal as the Green and Gold extended their unbeaten streak over RIT to 11 games (9-0-2).

Clarkson's top returning scorer DiNallo wasted little time in silencing the home crowd at the Polisseni Center, scoring just 1:16 into the contest as he knocked in own rebound from the slot for his 14th career goal. Senior Joe Zarbo (Grand Island, NY) and junior defenseman, captain Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) assisted.

Later in the stanza, sophomore Jordan Boucher (St. Therese, QUE) finished off passing combination from linemates junior Todd Christian (Norwalk, CT) and sophomore Troy Josephs (Whitby, ONT) to put the Green and Gold on top 2-0 at 15:52.

Midway through the second period RIT got on the scoreboard with a goal by Caleb Cameron at 10:10 to cut the Knights' lead to one.

The Tigers, who defeated St. Lawrence 5-2 on Friday, picked up their play over the final 20 minutes and fired eight shots on the Clarkson goal, but could not capitalize on two late power plays.

The Knights sealed the win with 23.3 seconds remaining as Pierog knocked in a behind-the-net pass from Zarbo for an empty-net power-play tally.

Clarkson outshot RIT 34-21, including a 22-13 margin through the first 40 minutes. The Knights finished 1-of-3 on the power play and killed off all four of the Tigers' man-advantage opportunities.