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Clarkson men open four-game home stand at Cheel Arena

Posted 1/21/16

With three wins in its last four games, all against Top-20 ranked teams, the Clarkson University Hockey team has gained needed confidence and generated momentum for a strong second-half run. Guided …

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Clarkson men open four-game home stand at Cheel Arena

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With three wins in its last four games, all against Top-20 ranked teams, the Clarkson University Hockey team has gained needed confidence and generated momentum for a strong second-half run. Guided by fifth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Josh Hauge, the Golden Knights stand at .500 overall with a 10-10-2 record and picked up their first wins in ECAC Hockey play last week to improve to 2-6-2 in league play. The Knights, who are 7-1-1 at home this season, play eight of their final 12 regular season games at Cheel Arena. Clarkson opens a four-game home stand this coming weekend hosting Yale and Brown. Both games are 7:00 p.m. faceoffs.

Clarkson returned to league play last Tuesday and knocked off St. Lawrence 3-1 (18th in the polls at the time) before a sold out North Country crowd in its first game back at Cheel Arena since November 28. The Green and Gold took to the road this past weekend, earning a split in New England. The Knights could not recover from a slow start at Dartmouth on Friday and fell to the Big Green 5-2 in Hanover, NH. Clarkson rebounded at 7th-ranked Harvard on Saturday with its best effort of the season, dominating the Crimson in a 5-1 victory in Cambridge, MA.

• In the rivalry against Yale, which first began in in 1930, the Knights hold a commanding 72-37-5 lead. The teams have skated to a 2-2-1 mark in the last five games, but Clarkson is on a current three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) against the 2013 National Champions. Clarkson has skated to a 19-7 record over the Bulldogs at Cheel.

• Clarkson has won four straight games, including three one-goal decisions over Brown to increase its lead in their all-time series to 62-18-8. The series, which first began in 1952, has been tight over the past 10 games with the Knights holding a 5-3-2 advantage. The Knights hold a 20-5-4 record over Brown at Cheel Arena.

• Clarkson's only two blemishes at home this season came during the opening weekend of ECAC Hockey play on November 6-7 with a 2-2 tie vs Rensselaer and a 4-1 loss to Union. The Knights have outscored their opponents 33-15 at home.

• The Green and Gold will not play outside of New York State until the final weekend of the regular season. Clarkson hosts Cornell and Colgate next weekend to close out the month of January.

• Clarkson's scoring production is starting to come back around. After combining for just four goals in their last four games of 2015, the Green and Gold are averaging just over three goals a game through their first five contests of 2016. The five goals the Knights put on the scoreboard at Top-10 ranked Harvard was their second highest total of the season and their biggest production on the road since a 5-2 win at Dartmouth on January 17, 2015. Clarkson has scored at least three goals in every game during 2016 execpt one (Friday's 5-2 loss at Dartmouth).

• The resurgence of the Knight's power play is contributing significantly to Clarkson's offense. The Knights have gone 5-of-14 (35.7%) on the man-advantage through the first five games of 2016 after going scoreless on the power play (0-of-35) in the last 11 games of 2015. Clarkson was 3-6 (50%) over the weekend, scoring its first power-play goals of the season in ECAC Hockey play (3-32, 9.4%).

• Sophomore Sam Vigneault (Baie-Comeau, QUE) leads the Knights offensively with 18 points on a team-high nine goals and eight nine through 21 games, and has scored a team-high five game-winners (tied for second in the nation). He tallied Clarkson's first two goals, including the deciding score, in the win over St. Lawrence and recorded the gamewinner and one assist at Harvard. Vigneault has tallied four goals and five points in the last four games. He posted13 points (6-7) through 31 games in his rookie campaign last season.

• Junior A. J. Fossen (Maple Grove, MN) is second on the Clarkson scoring charts with a balanced effort of eight goals and eight assists. He has connected for a team-high five power-play markers and three, two-goal games.

• Christian Powers (Carlisle, ONT) is enjoying a steady senior campaign as the Green and Gold's third leading scorer. He is one of three Knights with 10 points, recording four goals and six assists to go along with a +2 plus/minus rating. He recorded 10 points (2-8) through 77 contests in his first three seasons.

• Junior James de Haas (Mississauga, ONT) leads Clarkson in scoring from the blueline with two goals and eight assists. He scored a power-play goal at Dartmouth.

• Sophomore Brett Gervais (Corona, CA) also has 10 points on a pair of goals and eight assists. He has taken the most faceoffs for the Knights (191-179, 51.6%).

• Senior defenseman Kevin Tansey (Hammond, ONT) enjoyed a strong game against Harvard. He had several blasts from the point, one leading to an assist on the game-winning goal and another connecting for a power-play tally, his second goal of the season and first since October 10. Tansey leads the team in block shots (30).

• Senior Greg Lewis (Mars, PA) and junior Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA) and have seen the bulk of the action in the Clarkson crease. Lewis has started eight games, including the last four and holds a .912 save percentage, a 2.38 GAA and a 4-4-1 record. He played the full 60 minutes last Tuesday against St. Lawrence, turning aside 26 of 27 shots. Lewis recorded his 26th career win win 21 saves in the victory at Harvard. Perry has started 14 games, including both contests at the Three Rivers Classic, and posts a .885 save percentage and a 2.87 goals against average en route to a 6-6-1 record, including one shutout.

• Junior Troy Josephs (Whitby, ONT) has scored four goals in the past six games and five overall to go along with three assists through 19 games this season.

• For the first time in nine games, the Knights scored the first goal of the game with the opening tally at Harvard. Clarkson is 6-0-1 when scoring first, 5-0-1 when leading after the opening 20 minutes and 6-0-1 when leading through two periods. The Green and Gold are winless (0-9-1) when trailing after 40 minutes.

• Freshman Aaron Thow (Toronto, ONT) posts a team-high +4 rating, and returned to the lineup after missing the BGSU weekend with an injury.

• Clarkson has outshot 14 of its first 22 opponents, 696-569 combined total.

• Senior defenseman Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) is in his second year as the Golden Knights' captain. Classmates Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT) and Pat Megannety (Oakville, ONT), and James de Haas serve as assistant captains.

Scouting Yale

Ranked 12th in the national polls, Yale is one of the hottest teams in the country and is currently tied for the second longest unbeaten streak in Division I at six games (5-0-1). Guided by 10th-year head coach Keith Allain, the Bulldogs own a 10-4-3 overall record and hold down fifth place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 5-3-2 league mark. The Bulldogs are 5-2-1 in road games. Yale's unbeaten streak has not come easy as the Bulldogs have skated in five games during the stretch that have been decided by one goal-or-less. This past weekend in a home-and-home series with travel partner Brown, Yale rallied for a pair of one-goal victories. On Friday at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, CT, the Bulldogs overcame a 1-0 first-period deficit and then held off Brown in the third for a 3-2 win. The next night at Meehan Auditorium in Providence, RI, Yale once again fell behind 1-0, but came back to knock off the Bears 2-1 in overtime. Yale's last loss was a 4-2 setback at home to Princeton on December 5, which extended a Bulldogs' losing skid to three games. One of the top defensive teams in the country, allowing only 1.76 goals per game (4th), Yale is backstopped in goal by Alex Lyon who has started 16 games. He boasts a .937 save percentage and a 1.58 goals against average en route to a 10-3-3 record, including two shutouts. Joe Snively (6-8) and Stu Wilson (3-11) pace the Bulldogs offense with 14 points apiece. John Hayden has scored a team-high nine goals.

Scouting Brown

Brown, guided by seventh-year head coach Brendan Whittet, brings a 4-10-3 overall record into the North Country. The Bears, who play at St. Lawrence on Friday, are tied with Clarkson with six points in the ECAC Hockey standings on a 2-7-2 league mark. Brown is 1-4-1 in road games. Brown has been playing strong in the New Year. Prior to the one-goal losses to nationally-ranked Yale over the weekend, the Bears knocked off #2-ranked Providence 4-3 in overtime at Meehan Auditorium to start the 2016 portion of the schedule on January 3. One of the Top 10 offensive players in the country, Nick Lappin leads Brown with 24 points on 11 goals and 13 assists. Tim Ernst has started 15 games in goal for the Bears and posts a .896 save percentage and a 2.83 GAA to go along with a 4-8-3 record with one shutout.

The Series:

In the rivalry against Yale, which first began in in 1930, the Knights hold a commanding 72-37-5 lead. The teams have skated to a 2-2-1 mark in the last five games, but Clarkson is on a current three-game unbeaten streak (2-0-1) against the 2013 National Champions. Last season the Green and Gold skated to a 2-2 tie in New Haven on November 7, for the first draw in the series in 15 years, and then came back with its 10th shutout in the rivalry with a 1-0 whitewash over the Bulldogs in Potsdam on January 24. Clarkson has skated to a 19-7 record over the Bulldogs at Cheel. Senior Greg Lewis made 25 saves in the shutout last January to improve his stats against the Bulldogs to a .976 save percentage, 0.67 goals against average and a 2-1 record, including two perfect outings through three games. Junior Steve Perry has played two games in the series with a .875 save percentage, a 3.53 GAA and a 1-1 record. Defensemen, senior Kevin Tansey (2-1) and junior James de Haas (0-3) both have a team-high three points against Yale. Junior A.J. Fossen joins Tansey has the only other Knights with two goals against the Bulldogs. Senior Todd Christian and sophomore Sam Vigneault both have scored once in the series.

Clarkson has won four straight games, including three one-goal decisions over Brown to increase its lead in their all-time series to 62-18-8. The series, which first began in 1952, has been tight over the past 10 games with the Knights holding a 5-3-2 advantage. Last season, Clarkson took a 2-0 lead and held off the Bears for a 2-1 victory in Providence, RI on November 8. Last January 23 at Cheel, the Green and Gold shut out the Bears for the first time since 2001 behind 27 saves from Greg Lewis in a 6-0 victory. The Knights hold a 20-5-4 record over Brown at Cheel Arena. Through six games in the series, Lewis posts a .912 save percentage and a 2.80 goals against average en route to a 2-3-1 mark against the Bears. Steve Perry is 2-0 against Brown with a .949 save percentage and a 1.50 GAA. James de Haas has a team-high five points in the series with one goal and four assists. Senior Jeff DiNallo has four assists and Todd Christian and junior Jordan Boucher have tallied a team-high two goals each.