In the first game of the best-of-three ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, the fifth-ranked Clarkson University Women's Hockey team took a 1-0 series lead after defeating Dartmouth 6-0 in Cheel Arena on Friday night.

Clarkson, which is the number one seed in the ECAC Hockey playoffs, improves to 23-9-3 while eighth-seeded Dartmouth is now 13-14-2.

"I thought we did a great job tonight carrying over the emotion and momentum we played with last weekend," stated Clarkson Head Coach Matt Desrosiers. "We were able to jump out to a quick start by having everyone in the lineup playing hard and bringing a lot of energy. We did a good job stringing together some good shifts one after another that allowed us to sustain some pressure. I thought our overall commitment to playing good team defense was great and a key to our success tonight. Shea (Tiley) also had another great game tonight making the saves we needed her to make and keeping things calm in our defensive zone. We will have to make sure we bring another solid effort tomorrow for a full 60 minutes as I am sure Dartmouth will come out flying."

A week after it took Clarkson more than 54 minutes to score their first goal against Dartmouth, the Golden Knights took only 5:52 to get one on the board this time. On the first power play of the night, junior assistant captains Olivia Howe (Moose Jaw, SASK) and Erin Ambrose (Keswick, ONT) worked the puck to freshman Amanda Titus (Stittsville, ONT) on the right side of the net deep in the Dartmouth zone. Titus took a wrist shot from a tight angle and it found the left post and banked in to give Clarkson a 1-0 lead. It was the first assist for Ambrose since returning from an injury that caused her to miss the last five games of the regular season.

Clarkson would double its lead at 7:02 when junior Cayley Mercer (Exeter, ONT) flew in from the right side and fit a shot between the legs of the Dartmouth goaltender. Howe and freshman Savannah Harmon (Downers Grove, IL) would get assists on Mercer's 21st marker of the year. Clarkson would finish the period with a 17-3 advantage in shots and a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard.

The Golden Knights would tack on three more goals in the second period. First, senior Daniella Matteucci (Fruitvale, BC) hit a one-timer from the top off a pass from Mercer to make the score 3-0 at 4:57. Senior Christine Lambert (Thetford Mines, QUE) also assisted on the goal. Next it would be freshman Brielle Bellerive (N. Vancouver, BC) who came down the right on a power play and tucked one inside the left post at 9:15. Titus and junior assistant captain Renata Fast (Burlington, ONT) had assists on the goal. Finally, sophomore Jessica Gillham (Uxbridge, ONT) stole the puck in the Dartmouth end and fed sophomore Genevieve Bannon (Candiac, QUE) who scored from right in front of the net at 17:34.

Clarkson would add a sixth goal in with just 15 seconds left in the third period to finish the scoring. The goal came on a Mercer backhand in front of the net with Lambert and Fast picking up assists.

Clarkson freshman goaltender Shea Tiley (Owen Sound, ONT) made 21 saves to complete her tenth shutout of the year. It is also the first time she has shutouts in consecutive games since blanking Providence on both October 11th and 12th. Clarkson held a 49-21 advantage in shots. The 49 shots by the Green and Gold were the most since they posted 53 against UConn on November 28th. Clarkson was 2-5 on the power play and killed off both Dartmouth an advantage opportunities.

The Golden Knights will play Dartmouth again tomorrow at 4:00 pm in Cheel Arena, and a win will advance them to the ECAC Hockey semifinals.