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Clarkson opens ECAC men's hockey play at Yale and Brown

Posted 11/6/14

The 54th season of ECAC Hockey play begins for the Clarkson University Hockey team this weekend when the Golden Knights travel to New England to begin a four-game conference road trip. Guided by …

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Clarkson opens ECAC men's hockey play at Yale and Brown

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The 54th season of ECAC Hockey play begins for the Clarkson University Hockey team this weekend when the Golden Knights travel to New England to begin a four-game conference road trip. Guided by fourth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Andy Jones, Clarkson opens league play at 2013 NCAA National Champion Yale on Friday at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, CT before taking on Brown at Meehan Auditorium in Providence, RI on Saturday. Both Games are 7:00 p.m. starts.

Led by junior captain Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) and assistant captains, senior James Howden (Edgeley, SASK) and junior Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT), the Knights stand at 2-4-2 overall and enter the weekend road trip looking to break out of a six-game losing skid (0-4-2).

This past weekend in the North Country, the Green and Gold battled archrival St. Lawrence in a non-league, home-and-home series, skating to a 2-2 tie at Appleton Arena in Canton on Friday before suffering a 4-0 loss at Cheel Arena on Saturday.

Yale opened its season this past weekend in non-league action at the Liberty Invitational in Newark, NJ with a 2-2 tie against Princeton on Friday and advanced to the tournament championship game by virtue of a shootout win over the Tigers. Yale posted a 2-1 victory over Connecticut on Sunday. The Bulldogs, the 2013 NCAA National Champions, are picked for a fourth-place showing in the ECAC Hockey standings in the league's preseason coaches' poll.

A 4-2 win at Army this past Friday officially opened the 2014-15 campaign for Brown. The Bears also defeated Dartmouth in an exhibition contest, 6-3 in Hanover, NH on October 26. The Bears are picked to finish seventh in the conference's coaches' poll.

Senior Joe Zarbo (Grand Island, NY) leads the Knights in scoring with eight points on a team-high four goals and four assists. He scored his fourth career goal against St. Lawrence in Friday's 2-2 tie. Zarbo has 54 career points (26-28) in 122 games. Eight of those points (4-4) have come in games against the Saints.

Friday's game will be the 113th meeting between Clarkson and Yale in their rivalry which the Knights lead by a commnading 71-37-4 margin. The Bulldogs have been stronger in the series in recent years with a 7-3 record in the last 10 meetings, and 3-2 over the last five games.

Saturday's game will be the 87th meeting between Clarkson and Brown with the Knights leading 60-18-8. Clarkson has gone 5-3-2 over the last 10 games with the Bears and swept last-season regular season series.

A young Clarkson team is still struggling to find itself offensively, averaging only 1.88 goals per game. The Knights have scored over three goals in just one game this season and have been shut out twice.

Clarkson has held the shot advantage in six of the first eight games and holds an overall shot margin of 238-178. The Knights best period has been in the third when they have outscored the opponents 5-4 with a 71-50 shot advantage.

Defense is projected to be Clarkson's strength this season with five veterans and three freshmen, including three NHL Draft picks, anchoring the unit. The Knights are allowing only 22.25 shots per game, which is third-best in Division I.

Clarkson is ranked 16th in the nation in faceoff pct. (269-240, 52.8%). Freshman Ben Dalpe, (Paris, ONT) who has played in three games owns the Knights' best pct. on the draw at 73.3% (33-12). Brett Gervais (Corona, CA) has won 55.7% (73-58) and Troy Josephs (Whitby, ONT) has also won 55.7% (34-27). Jeff DiNallo has taken the most faceoffs for the Green and Gold, winning 49.3% (73-75).

Saturday's loss to St. Lawrence snapped a seven-game unbeaten streak (5-0-2) for the Knights against their arch rival and was their first loss at Cheel to the Saints since December 5, 2009.

On Friday at Appleton Arena, Clarkson and St. Lawrence played in a penalty-freecontest for the first time against each other since the 1963 ECAC Tournament consolation game. The last time the Knights played a game without taking anypenalties was on February 21, 1997 against Harvard.

Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA) has started in goal in seven of the first first games and posts a .882 save percentage and a 2.50 GAA. He is one of 20 goalies named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List for 2014-15, which annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey.

Clarkson has just two seniors, defenseman James Howden and forward Joe Zarboon the roster. Eight juniors, eight sophomores and nine freshmen make up the remainder of the 2014-15 Golden Knight roster.

Freshman defenseman Kelly Summers (Golden Lake, ONT) recorded his first collegiate point with an assist on a beautiful backhanded pass out of the zone to Jeff DiNallo, who scored on a breakway for Clarkson's first goal at St. Lawrence on Friday.

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

Four former Knights were on NHL opening-day rosters -Mark Borowiecki'11(Ottawa),Grant Clitsome'08(Winnipeg),Erik Cole'00(Dallas) andWillie Mitchell'99(Florida) . Several former Clarkson standouts are on AHL/ECHL rosters.

In its 93rd season, Clarkson boasts 70 winning campaigns and a 1,365-804-143 all-time record for a .622 winning percentage since 1920-21.