It took a little longer than the Clarkson University Hockey team expected, but the Golden Knights finally reached the 20-win mark and in the process snapped out of a lengthy winless drought with a 4-2 victory over Quinnipiac at Cheel Arena on Saturday night in the ECAC Hockey regular season finale.

Ranked 9th/10th in the national polls, the 2017-18 Knights become the first Clarkson team to reach 20 wins in the regular season since the 2007-08 Green and Gold squad. Clarkson, which won for first time in nearly a month, breaking out of an eight-game winless (0-4-4) stretch, stands at 20-8-6 overall and secured third place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 12-5-5 league mark. Clarkson, which earned a bye in the opening round of the conference playoffs for first time in 10 years, will host a quarterfinal series at Cheel Arena on March 9-11.

Sophomore center Nico Sturm (Augsburg, Germany) and classmate, goaltender Jake Kielly (Eden Prairie, MN) were standouts on Clarkson's Senior Night and played key roles in helping the Green and Gold's four-year veterans closed out their final regular-season game at Cheel on a winning note.

Sturm recorded his fifth career two-goal outing and tallied a career-high four points, while Kielly made 23 saves, including 10 over the final 20 minutes to lift the Knights to their first win since January 26.

In game that was very similar in style to several other outings during its recent struggles, Clarkson found a way to turn the outcome in its favor this time.

Quinnipiac took the initial lead at 15:01 of the first when Kevin Duane scored from a sharp angle along the goal line. The Knights, however, answered back with three straight goals to hold a 3-1 lead midway through the second period.

Senior defenseman Kelly Summers (Golden Lake, ONT) started Clarkson's roll four minutes after the Bobcats' goal and shortly after a power play had expired. The Knights' leading scorer from the blueline, Summers skated in from the point and knocked in a rebound off sophomore Devin Brosseau's (St. Lambert, QUE) shot at 18:30 for his sixth goal of the season. Sturm also assisted.

Just 27 seconds into the middle frame, Sturm connected off a pass from classmate Sheldon Rempal (Calgary, ALB) for his 13th tally of the season. Senior defenseman Terrance Amorosa (Kirkland, QUE) also assisted.

Clarkson took a two-goal lead at 10:17 on Brosseau's goal on a backhand shot in the slot for his ninth goal of the year. Linemates Rempal and Sturm assisted.

The Bobcats pulled back to within one with a power-play tally late in the stanza. Just 10 seconds into a man-advantage opportunity, Quinnipiac's Chase Priskie connected for a one-timer from the right circle on a shot into the near right corner of the net.

Clarkson held tough in the third period and finally sealed the deal with Sturm's empty-net tally with 24 seconds remaining.

Both teams had 25 shots on goal. Clarkson was 0-of-5 on the power play and killed off four of Quinnipiac's five man-advantage opportunities.