With another strong defensive effort backed up in goal by sophomore Erica Howe (Ottawa, ONT), the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team completed a weekend sweep in ECAC Hockey play at Cheel Arena on Saturday afternoon with its second consecutive shutout, a 1-0 blanking of Princeton.

The Golden Knights, who are on a season-high three-game winning streak, improve their record to 7-3-4 overall and to 3-2-1 in the conference. Clarkson defeated Quinnipiac 3-0 on Friday night. The last time Clarkson shut out a pair of opponents on a weekend was on October 30-31, 2009, when the Green and Gold blanked Brown (1-0) and Yale (2-0) in Potsdam.

In a tightly played contest, Clarkson outshot Princeton (4-3-1, 3-2-1), 31-26. Howe posted her third shutout of the season and fifth career whitewash with six first-period saves, 16 stops in the middle frame and four more over the final 20 minutes. One of Howe’s biggest stops of the game came with 5:52 left in the second period when she made a pad save on a breakaway attempt by the Tigers’ Sally Butler.

The Knights’ penalty kill did an excellent job, holding the Tigers scoreless on six power play opportunities. Clarkson was 0-of-6 with the man-advantage.

The Knights, who outshot Princeton by a 2-to-1 margin the first period, 12-6, got on the scoreboard with a goal late in the stanza. Senior Juana Baribeau (Amos, QUE) knocked in a rebound off a shot by junior defenseman Hailey Wood (Lethbridge, ALB) with 63 seconds remaining in the first period. Sophomore Carly Mercer (Exeter, ONT) also assisted on the game’s lone goal. Baribeau now has 97 career points, including 49 goals.

Clarkson will play at Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend. The Knights played both teams just two weeks ago at Cheel, tying Dartmouth 2-2 before losing to Harvard 2-1.