With a weekend split against Hockey East foes on its first road trip of the season the Clarkson University Hockey team is off to a 3-1 start. The Golden Knights, guided by fifth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Josh Hauge, regrouped from their first loss of the year, a 7-1 setback at Merrimack on Friday, to gain a 4-3 last-minute victory at the University of New Hampshire on Saturday.

Clarkson will look to carry over the momentum of the UNH win when it hosts Western Michigan of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference this weekend at Cheel Arena. The Green and Gold will battle the Broncos at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and then close out the season-opening, non-league portion of the schedule with a 7:30 p.m. faceoff against WMU in the Parents' Weekend game on Saturday.

• Last year's MVP, senior Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT) came through with the deciding goal at UNH, scoring his first of the year with 41.4 seconds remaining. It was another balanced effort up front for Clarkson as three other Knights, juniors A.J Fossen (Maple Grove, MN), Troy Josephs (Whitby, ONT) and Jordan Boucher(St. Therese, QUE) also scored against the Wildcats. Junior goaltender Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA) posted a season-high 25 saves in the one-goal, road win, which snapped a five-game losing skid to UNH.

• The Knights started out strong on Friday at Merrimack, outshooting the Warriors 14-5 in the opening period, but could not sustain the pressure as the home team outscored the Green and Gold 3-0 in both the second and third periods. Senior defenseman, captain Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) tallied Clarkson's lone goal.

• Clarkson will be playing Western Michigan for the first time in nearly 20 years. In their last meeting, the Knights defeated the Broncos 6-1 in the opening round of the NCAA East Regional, held in Albany on March 22, 1996. The Knights lead the all-time series 6-2-2.

• The Knights are 2-0 against NCHC competition, now in its third year as an eight-team conference. Clarkson swept Colorado College (2-1, 1-0ot) on October 25-26, 2013 at Cheel Arena in its only other action against NCHC foes.

• Clarkson and Western Michigan are nearly tied in the "Others receiving votes;" section of the latest USCHO.com Poll. The Knights have 29 pts, the Broncos 27.

• Clarkson has gone 2-12-1 against Hockey East competiton since 2011-12, with the lone wins coming against Merrimack (3-2) in Janaury, 2014 and UNH on Saturday.

• Fossen, who closed out the 2014-15 campaign with four goals and five assists over the last seven games, has carried his strong play over to the start of his junior season. He is averaging a point per game and leads the Knights with three goals, all on the power play. Fossen has 31 points (12-19) through 75 career games.

• Clarkson's power play is clicking at 33.3% (5-15), tied for fifth in Division 1. Along with Fossen's three goals, Vigneault and Geiger have also scored with the man-advantage. The Knights have killed off 16-of-19 opponents power plays (84.2%).

• Four other Knights have tallied a team-high four points. Eleven players have accounted for Clarkson's 15 goals. Fifteen Knights have recorded at least one point.

• Boucher (2-2), sophomore Sam Vigneault (Baie-Comeau, QUE) (1-3) and junior defenseman James de Haas (Mississauga, ONT) (0-4) all have four points with at least one point in three of the four games. de Haas is Clarkson's top playmaker and leads the defensemen in points.

• Sophomore Brett Gervais (Corona, CA) also has four points (1-3) after recording eight points in his freshman campaign. He has taken the most faceoffs for the Knights, winning 42.6% (29-39) of his draws.

• Josephs scored his first goal of the year and Clarkson's first penalty-shot goal since March 2014 when he connected on the solo shot early in the second period at UNH. He has three points (1-2) on the year.

• Center Marly Quince (Sioux Lookout, ONT), the only Clarkson freshman to play in the all four games, recorded his first collegiate point, assisting on the game-winner at UNH.

• Senior Todd Christian (Norwalk, CT), junior Perry D'Arrisso (Mississauga, ONT) and sophomore Ben Dalpe (Paris, ONT) all saw their first action of the season on Saturday in the win over UNH, skating on the Knights' fourth line.

• Clarkson has outshot each of its first four opponents, 143-93 combined total.

• Clarkson has one of the most experienced teams in the country with 25 lettermen, including eight seniors and eight juniors.

• Clarkson, which lost only two players from last year's team, returns 86.9% of its point production from 2014-15, the fourth highest returning percentage in Division I.

• DiNallo led the Knights in scoring last season with 21 points on six goals and 15 assists when he earned Clarkson MVP honors.

• Four current Golden Knights have been selected in the NHL Draft – James de Haas (2012 Detroit - 6th rd, 170), Terrence Amorosa (2013 Philadelphia - 5th rd, 189), Troy Josephs (2013 Pittsburgh - 7th rd, 209) and Kelly Summers (2014 Ottawa - 7th rd, 189).

• Two former Knights were on NHL opening-day rosters – Mark Borowiecki '11 (Ottawa), and Willie Mitchell '99 (Florida). Several former Clarkson standouts are on AHL/ECHL rosters.

• In its 94th season, Clarkson boasts 70 winning campaigns and a 1,378-821-146 all-time record for a .619 winning percentage since 1920-21.

Scouting Western Michigan

Guided by fifth-year head coach Andy Murray, the Broncos of the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) are unbeaten on the season at 2-0-1. Western Michigan, which was off last weekend, defeated 10th-ranked Bowling Green 4-1 in its last action on Tuesday, October 13 at Lawson Ice Arena in Kalamazoo. Western Michigan also played a home-and-home series with Ferris State, edging the Bulldogs 3-2 at home on October 9 and then skating to a 1-1 tie the next night in Grand Rapids, MI. The only other ECAC Hockey foe on the Broncos schedule is Rensselaer, who they play in the first round of the Shillelagh Tournament at Notre Dame on November 27. Western Michigan could also possibly face off Harvard in the second game of the tournament.

For the first time in nearly 20 years Clarkson and Western Michigan will face off against each other. In their last meeting, the Knights defeated the Broncos 6-1 in the opening game of the NCAA East Regional in Albany on March 22, 1996 to snap a four-game winless drought (0-2-2) in the series. Clarkson leads the series 6-2-2. Western Michigan, however, is unbeaten in its only two games at Cheel Arena, defeating the Green and Gold 8-4 on November 4, 1994 and skating to a 4-4 tie the following night.

All-Time Series

11/5/76 W(A) 9-3

11/6/76 W(A) 6-3

12/16/77 W(H) 6-4

12/17/77 W(H) 8-7

12/21/90 W(N) 7-0 - Dexter Classic, Maine

11/5/93 T(A) 2-2ot

11/6/93 L(A) 4-3

11/4/94 L(H) 8-4

11/5/94 T(H) 4-4ot

3/22/96 W(N) 6-1 - NCAA East Reg, Albany

Clarkson leads 6-2-2