Winners of three straight, unbeaten in its last five and 6-1-1 since January 3, the Clarkson University Hockey team has put together a pretty impressive start to the New Year. Guided by fifth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Josh Hauge, the Golden Knights stand at 13-10-3 overall and 5-6-3 in ECAC Hockey play. Clarkson, which did not have a league win in the 2015 portion of the schedule, is in eighth-place in the conference standings, four points out of a top for spot with eight games remaining in the regular season. Clarkson travels to New York's Capital District region this weekend to play at Union and Rensselaer. Game times are 7:00 p.m.

The Knights completed a highly successful four-game home stand at Cheel Arena this past Friday and Saturday with a pair of 2-1 victories over Cornell and Colgate to earn a weekend sweep of the Central NY rivals for the first time since February 23-24, 2001.

• The Knights hold a 28-25-5 advantage in their all-time series against Union. The Dutchmen, however, are 22-14-3 against Clarkson in games played during the 2000s, including a 9-1 mark in the last 10 meetings. Union defeated Clarkson 4-1 at Cheel on November 7 for its sixth straight win over the Green and Gold. Clarkson has struggled at Achilles Center, where Union has won the last nine meetings and is currently 11-0-1 in Schenectady against the Knights. Clarkson's last win at Messa Rink was a 4-3 overtime triumph on March 6, 2005 in Game 3 of an ECAC Hockey playoff first-round series. The Knights' last regular season win in Schenectady was a 5-0 victory on January 13, 2001.

• In a heated rivalry which dates back to the 1924-25 campaign, Clarkson leads the overall series against Rensselaer 87-50-11. The teams tied in Potsdam in their first meeting this season, 2-2 on November 6 in their ECAC Hockey opener. Clarkson skated to its second consecutive tie at Houston Field House last season, a 3-3 draw on February 27, which clinched eighth place for the Green and Gold.

• Clarkson went 6-2-1 in the month of January (.722 win%), its best start to a New Year in eight seasons, since the Knights opened the second half of 2007-2008 with a 5-1-1 mark (.786 win%) in January.

• Clarkson owns the best home winning percentage in Division I at .846 with a 10-1-2, record and is unbeaten it is last seven games (6-0-1) at Cheel Arena.

• Clarkson is receiving a balanced effort on the scoresheet with nine different Knights accounting for the team's last 10 goals.

• The Knights are getting needed offense from the blueline with Clarkson defensemen scoring five of the team's last 11 goals.

• Sophomore defenseman Terrance Amorosa (Kirkland, QUE) enjoyed a big weekend from the blueline with both gamewinners in the 2-1 victories. He tallied his first career game-winning goal with 27.2 seconds left in overtime on Friday against Cornell (Goal was selected for NCAA Top 5 Plays of the Week). He followed with the deciding score in Saturday's win over Colgate, scoring his third goal of the season and fourth of his career with 15.4 seconds remaining in the first period. Amorosa, who missed 11 games with an inury during the 2015 portion of the schedule, has 10 points (3-7) and a +5 rating through 15 games.

• Clarkson's leading scorer from the blueline, junior James de Haas (Mississauga, ONT) scored with 18.5 seconds remaining in the second period to tie the score against Cornell and then set up Amorosa's game-winning goal in the finals seconds of overtime. He has 12 points this season on three goals and nine assists.

• Senior captain Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) has jumped into the offensive play from the blueline recently with six points (2-4) over the past seven games. He has 10 points (4-6) through 23 games.

• In the past eight games the Knights have given up just 13 goals total (1.63 GPG) and have allowed over two goals in a game just once (5-2 loss at Dartmouth on January 15). Senior Greg Lewis (Mars, PA), who has started all of those games, boasts a .941 save percentage during that span. Through 13 games this season, including 12 starts, Lewis posts a .923 save percentage and a 1.89 goals against average en route to a 7-4-2 record, including one shutout.

• Senior Christian Powers (Carlisle, ONT) scored his first career power-play goal to open the scoring just 3:02 into Saturday's win over Colgate. Powers, who recorded two goals and 10 points through 77 games in his first three season, has been one of the Knights' most productive forwards in his senior campaign. He has five goals and 12 points through 23 games.

• Sophomore Sam Vigneault (Baie-Comeau, QUE) leads the Knights offensively with 20 points on a team-high nine goals and 11 assists through 25 games, and has scored a team-high five game-winners (tied for third in the nation). He has tallied four goals and seven points in the last eight games. He posted 13 points (6-7) through 31 games in his rookie campaign.

• Junior Jordan Boucher (St. Therese, QUE) has provided a boost to the offense since

returning to the line up after missing five games with an injury. In the past four games he has tallied four assists, including on both goals in the overtime win against the Big Red. Boucher has 10 assists and 13 points through 15 games.

• Sophomore Brett Gervais (Corona, CA) has played a key role has a versatile center. He is tied for third on Clarkson in scoring with 13 points (4-9), holds a team-best +7 plus/minus rating and has taken the most faceoffs for the Knights, winning 52.9% of his draws (239-213). He also posts 13 block shots.

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

• The Knights have scored the opening goal in four of the past five games. Clarkson is 8-0-2 when scoring first and 8-0-1 when leading through two periods. Clarkson is 0-9-2 when trailing after 40 minutes.

• Senior defenseman Kevin Tansey (Hammond, ONT) is one of eighteen nominees for the 2016 BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award. The award recognizes college hockey's finest citizen. The 2016 finalists will be announced in February, with the recipient named on Friday, April 8 at the Frozen Four in Tampa, Fla.

• Freshman Aaron Thow (Toronto, ONT) has played 23 of 26 games on the blueline. He is tied for second on the team in plus/minus +6 to go along with one assist.

Scouting Union

National Champions in 2014, Union is looking to find some winning consistency as the 2015-16 regular season winds down. The Dutchmen, guided by fourth-year head coach Rick Bennett, own a 10-9-7 overall record and are three points behind Clarkson in the ECAC Hockey standings with a ninth-place 3-7-4 league mark. Union took three-of-four points on the road this past weekend, edging Yale 2-1 in New Haven, CT before skating to a 2-2 tie with Brown in Providence, RI on Saturday. The Dutchmen have just one win in their last seven games (1-3-1). Union is 4-5-5 at Messa Rink this season with its last win in Schenectady coming on December 20 with a 3-2 overtime triumph against Vermont. Spencer Foo leads the Dutchmen in scoring with 25 points and 12 goals. Alex Sakellaropoulos has started 20 games in the Union crease and posts a .918 save percentage and a 2.45 GAA en route to an 8-7-5 record with two shutouts. Jake Kupsky has played in eight games with a .884 save percentage, a 3.56 GAA and a 2-2-1 record with one shutout.

Scouting Rensselaer

Ranked 14th/15th in the national polls, Rensselaer is enjoying a solid season under 10th-year head coach Seth Appert. The Engineers, who host St. Lawrence on Friday, take a 14-8-6 overall record and a 6-2-6 ECAC Hockey mark into the weekend. The Engineers saw a six-game unbeaten streak (3-0-3) come to an end in New Haven, CT on Saturday with a 3-0 loss to Yale, only their second defeat over the past 12 games. On Friday, RPI overcame a 3-0 deficit at Brown to pull out a 4-3 victory over the Bears in Providence. The Engineers are 7-2-3 at Houston Field House this season. Riley Bourbonnais has tallied a team-high 13 goals and shares the Engineers' point lead with Lou Nanne with 20 points each. Jason Kasdorf posts a .935 save percentage, a 2.11 GAA and an 8-6-4 record with two shutouts through 19 starts. Cam Hackett has played in 10 games with a .933 save percentage and a 2.34 GAA en route to a 6-2-2 record.

The Series:

The Knights hold a 28-25-5 advantage in their all-time series against Union. The Dutchmen, however, are 22-14-3 against Clarkson in games played during the 2000s, including a 9-1 mark in the last 10 meetings.

Union defeated Clarkson 4-1 at Cheel on November 7 for its sixth straight win over the Green and Gold. The Dutchmen swept the series last year, winning 4-1 in Potsdam and 3-2 in Schenectady last February. The Knights' last win over the Dutchmen was a 2-1 triumph in Potsdam on February 8, 2013. Clarkson has struggled at Achilles Center, where Union has won the last nine meetings and is currently 11-0-1 in Schenectady against the Knights. Clarkson's last win at Messa Rink was a 4-3 overtime triumph on March 6, 2005 in Game 3 of an ECAC Hockey playoff first-round series. The Knights' last regular season win in Schenectady was a 5-0 victory on January 13, 2001. Jeff DiNallo and Kevin Tansey, with one goal and two assists each, leads the Knights in scoring against the Dutchmen. Defensemen Paul Geiger and Kelly Summers and forward Perry D'Arrisso are the only other current Knights to have scored a goal in the series. Through five games against Union, Greg Lewis holds a .918 save percentage and a 3.01 goals against average en route to a 1-3 record. Steve Perry has a .852 save percentage and a 4.11 record in three losses.

In a heated rivalry which dates back to the 1924-25 campaign, Clarkson leads the overall series against Rensselaer 87-50-11. The teams tied in Potsdam in their first meeting this season, 2-2 on November 6 in their ECAC Hockey opener. The Knights took three of four league points from RPI last year during the regular season, including a 5-2 win at Cheel Arena last February 7. Clarkson skated to its second consecutive tie at Houston Field House last season, a 3-3 draw on February 27, which clinched eighth place for the Green and Gold. The Engineers, however, prevailed over Clarkson the following weekend in the opening round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs, defeating the Knights 2-1 (3-2, 0-5, 5-1) in the best-of-two game series on March 6-8 in Potsdam. A.J. Fossen has recorded a team-high seven points in the series against RPI with two goals and five assists. Jeff DiNallo has six points, including a team-high three goals against the Engineers. Pat Megannety, Kevin Tansey and Brett Gervais have tallied two goals apiece in the series. Steve Perry has played in five games in goal against RPI and holds a .910 save percentage, a 1.80 goals against average and 2-1-1 record, including two shutouts in the series. Greg Lewis has played seven games and posts a .866 save percentage and a 3.16 GAA en route to a 1-3-2 record against RPI.