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Golden Knights women's hockey travel to Wisconsin for weekend series

Posted 1/22/15

After winning three of its first four ECAC Hockey games in 2015, the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team will take a break from the conference slate and will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to play …

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Golden Knights women's hockey travel to Wisconsin for weekend series

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After winning three of its first four ECAC Hockey games in 2015, the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team will take a break from the conference slate and will travel to Madison, Wisconsin to play two games against the Top 5-ranked Wisconsin Badgers.

Guided by seventh-year head coach Matt Desrosiers and first-year assistant coaches Meghan Duggan and Britni Smith, the Green and Gold have an overall record of 15-6-2 with a 9-2-2 record in ECAC Hockey play. They are currently in second place in conference and are ranked seventh/eighth in the national polls.

Junior Cayley Mercer (Exeter, ONT) had a goal in Friday's 4-0 win over Union and both a goal and an assist in Saturday's 4-2 win against Rensselaer. Mercer now has at least one point in six straight games, dating back to the game against Cornell on December 5th, and includes her first career collegiate hat trick against Colgate on December 6th. She now has 15 points in ECAC Hockey games, which places her in a tie for third-most in the conference. Her 13 goals this season represent a new career high, while she also has a team-leading 15 assists.

With two assists against Union, junior assistant captain Erin Ambrose (Keswick,ONT) now has 102 career points in just 92 games. Ambrose is now just seven career points behind Marie-Jo Gaudet who graduated in 2009 with 109 points. Ambrose has garnered 25 goals and 77 assists. The 77 assists put her fifth all-time, just two behind her former teammate Brittany Styner '14 who left Clarkson with 79 helpers. Her seven points during man-advantage opportunities this season also lead the team.

Now that Ambrose has reached the 100-point milestone, the next four who are closest to that historic total are junior captain Shannon MacAulay (Mt. Herbert, PEI), sophomore Genevieve Bannon (Candiac, QUE), Mercer, and junior assistant captain Olivia Howe (Moose Jaw, SASK). MacAulay currently has 68 career points, with Mercer and Bannon tied at 50 apiece while Howe is just one behind at 49.

Although she has only tallied two points in 2015, MacAulay still leads the team in goals with 15, is tied with Mercer for the team lead in points with 28, and is third on the team in assists with 13 helpers. Her nine goals in ECAC Hockey play are second best in the conference and she is tied for fourth in conference with two game-winning goals. She also has six power-play points which is tied for the second-best total on the team. MacAulay's 21 blocked shots this season is also the highest total among Clarkson forwards and is the fourth-best total overall.

Bannon has picked up just a single assist in the first four games of 2015, but like MacAulay, she is still near the top of the team in many offensive categories. Her nine goals and 23 points this season are both third-best on the team with her 14 assists the second-highest total. Bannon has taken the most face-offs on the team winning 192 of them. Her .476 winning percentage on face-offs is the third highest among Clarkson skaters who have taken at least 100.

Howe had two assists against Union and a goal in the win over Rensselaer. Howe now has 22 goals in her career and 20 of them have come in Clarkson wins. She has also picked up at least one point in five of the last six games.

Freshmen have continued to be major contributors to Clarkson's success this season, with the 41 points posted by the class trailing just the junior class for most on the team. Savannah Harmon (Downers Grove, IL) leads the way with 16 points while Brielle Bellerive (North Vancouver, BC) and Amanda Titus (Stittsville, ONT) are just behind her with 10 and eight points respectively. Harmon's 11 points in ECAC Hockey play puts her third among defensemen and fourth among rookies. She is also tied for fourth in the conference with two game-winning goals. Her perfomances helped her be named ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week once this season. Titus has a goal against both Union and Rensselaer, the first time she has scored in two consecutive games. Bellerive also had points in both games last weekend, scoring against Union and picking up an assist against Rensselaer. Katelyn Fournier (Ottawa, ONT) and Lauren Lefler (Windsor, ONT) have also contributed three assists apiece.

Freshman goaltender Shea Tiley (Owen Sound, ONT) has been a consistent performer in net for Clarkson. She stopped all 23 Union shots to complete her fifth shutout of the season, which is tied for the sixth-highest total in the country. Her goals against average (1.36) and save percentage (.934) in conference games are good for second-best. She has also won ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month twice and been named ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week on three different occasions.

The last time Clarkson lost a game in January was back on January 19th, 2013, a 3-1 loss at Cornell. Since then, they have won 12 of 14 games, with the other two finishing in ties. In that span, Clarkson has outscored its opponents 47-12. All 14 games were ECAC Hockey contests and the last time Clarkson played a non-conference game in January was when they lost to Northeastern on January 4th, 2013.

Before they went 0 for 5 on man-advantage opportunities against Rensselaer, Clarkson had a streak of four straight games with at least one power-play goal. Clarkson is now 17 of 76 on power-plays, good for fourth in the nation. They have also been strong defensively during man-advantages. They have only allowed one power-play goal in 14 opportunities in 2015 and only six on 58 opportunities overall. Their penalty kill percentage of 89.7% is the fifth best percentage in the country.

This weekend will mark the first all-time meeting between the Golden Knights and the Badgers. Wisconsin is currently ranked fourth in one national poll and third in the other. They will be the highest ranked team that Clarkson has faced all season. Clarkson is 1-4-2 against ranked opponents this season with their lone win coming in a 3-0 win over Dartmouth.

The Badgers, the alma mater of assistant coach Megan Duggan '11, stand at 18-4-2 overall and are in second place in the WCHA with a 14-4-2 league mark. Wisconsin is 1-2-1 in 2015 after closing out the first half of the schedule with a 12-game (11-0-1) unbeaten streak, including nine straight wins to close out 2014.