Potsdam, NY – After narrowly missing out on breaking the program's career scoring record on the road last weekend, senior Loren Gabel took little time in finishing things off at home, scoring just eight seconds into the game to begin the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team's a 5-1 route of Yale University on Friday evening at Cheel Arena.

The Golden Knights, ranked sixth in the latest polls, improved to 17-5-1 overall and 8-3-0 in ECAC Hockey play, while Yale fell to 5-13-0 and 4-7-0. Clarkson faces Brown University at 1:00 pm on Saturday afternoon in a game that was moved up two hours due to the impending snowstorm expected in the Northeast.

Though Gabel's early goal was the highlight, sophomore Elizabeth Giguere was the number one star of the game for Clarkson, scoring her first collegiate hat trick thanks to a pair of short-handed goals. Not only did the two short-handed goals help Giguere push her season total to five, the most in NCAA Division I Hockey, but it also has put her in a tie for the career record at Clarkson, previously set by Britney Selina (2006-10).

Gabel's goal to start the first period also nearly set a record as it was tallied only eight seconds after the opening faceoff. Yale won the draw, but Gabel stole the puck between the red and blue lines before skating in on the left side and sending in a wrist shot for a 1-0 Clarkson lead. Only Lindsay Williams's goal of seven seconds in a win over Vermont on September 29, 2006 was faster than Gabel's.

A little over three minutes later, the Knights added to the lead despite skating down a player after Tia Stoddard was whistled for tripping. Less than 10 seconds into Yale's power play, T.T. Cianfarano stole the puck at the top of the slot in the Clarkson defensive end and chipped a pass ahead to Giguere. From there, the sophomore did the rest, weaving her way through three Yale defenders down ice and wristing in a shot from the right circle at 3:27 for a 2-0 Clarkson lead. The Knights tacked on another goal in the first as Yale was looking to get into the locker room still within striking distance. Michaela Pejzlova caused a turnover in the Yale defensive end thanks to some pressure on what appeared to be a harmless clear. Gabel then collected the puck and took a couple of strides for space before sending a pass back down to Pejzlova, who tipped the pass in at 14:18 for a 3-0 Clarkson advantage.

A seemingly quiet second period started getting louder when the Knights nearly converted at 6:10, but Gabel's shot hit a pipe and bounced out of the frame. It mattered little, as Clarkson scored only 45 seconds later. In the Yale defensive zone, Pejzlova won the draw with the puck dribbling behind her skates. Giguere was there to gain possession, weaving her way through three defenders and finishing off a shot at 6:55 to put Clarkson up 4-0.

Yale would respond with a power play goal 90 seconds later as Rebecca Vanstone skated in on a two-on-one, held the puck and sent a wrist shot at Clarkson goaltender Kassidy Sauve. Though the shot was stopped by Sauve, the puck fell out of her range and trickled over the goal line at 8:25.

Clarkson recorded its final goal of the game late in the second period, again skating down a player. T.T. Cianfarano stole the puck along the left side boards just outside the Clarkson defensive zone and skated a few strides up before locating Giguere just in front of the blue line. Cianfarano sent a pass to Giguere, who skated in alone, finishing off the play easily at 1:44 for her second short-handed goal and third score overall in the game.

The Knights finished with a 40-16 edge in shots overall, holding double-figure advantages in both the first and second period, while the third period margin was muted to 9-7. Sauve recorded 15 saves in the victory for Clarkson and Tera Hofmann made 35 stops for the Bulldogs.