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Knights men's hockey close out first semester with 3-0 shutout over SLU

Posted 12/9/18

Hard work and determined play finally paid off for Clarkson in its weekend series against St. Lawrence as the Golden Knights skated past the Saints 3-0 before 3,423 North Country fans at Cheel Arena …

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Knights men's hockey close out first semester with 3-0 shutout over SLU

Posted

Hard work and determined play finally paid off for Clarkson in its weekend series against St. Lawrence as the Golden Knights skated past the Saints 3-0 before 3,423 North Country fans at Cheel Arena on Saturday night.

Sixteenth ranked Clarkson, which fell to St. Lawrence 4-2 in Canton on Friday, gained the weekend split in ECAC Hockey play to improve to 9-6 overall and to 3-3 in the conference. The Knights are now off until December 28 when they play 19th-ranked Arizona State in the opening round of the highly competitive Desert Classic in Glendale, AZ. Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State, currently the third and fourth ranked teams in the nation, play in the other first round game in Arizona.

Junior Jake Kielly (Eden Prairie, MN) made 15 saves to record his second shutout of the season and first career whitewash against St. Lawrence. Defensemen, sophomore Jere Astren (Helsinki, Finland) and senior Aaron Thow (Toronto, ONT), and junior co-captain, left wing Devin Brosseau (St. Lambert, QUE) provided the goals as the Knights won their fifth game in the last six meetings of the Route 11 rivalry.

After putting up a season-high 50 shots against St. Lawrence in Friday's loss the Knights came out strong to open Saturday's contest with a 13-6 shot advantage through the opening 20 minutes. The Green and Gold, however, despite several excellent scoring opportunities, had nothing to show for their efforts in a 0-0 first period.

Clarkson controlled play again in the middle frame, doubling up the Saints in shots 12-6, and finally broke through with Astren's first goal of the season. Astren took a pass from junior co-captain Nico Sturm (Augsburg, Germany) at the bottom of the right circle and lifted in his fifth career goal at with 2:43 remaining in the period. Junior defenseman Shane Kuzmeski (Grayslake, IL) started the scoring play to earn his first career point.

The Knights had another dominating effort in the third period, outshooting their archrival 15-3.

After sustain pressure in the St. Lawrence end for nearly a three-minute span, Clarkson netted an insurance goal at 10:57 with Brosseau finishing off assists from freshman Nick Campoli (Toronto, ONT) and sophomore Jack Jacome (Caledon, ONT) with a shot from the slot for his third goal of the year.

Thow sealed the Knights' seventh home win of the season with an unassisted goal after intercepting a St. Lawrence clearing attempt with seven minutes left.

Clarkson out shot the Saints 40-15.