Clarkson University Hockey will strive to build upon the hard work it displayed this past weekend at Cheel Arena and make the most of its opportunities this Friday and Saturday on its lone road trip of January. Guided by fourth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Andy Jones, the Golden Knights will travel to New England to battle Harvard on Friday in Cambridge, MA and Dartmouth on Saturday in Hanover, NH.

Led by junior captain Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) and assistant captains, senior James Howden (Edgeley, SASK) and junior Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT), the Green a Gold post a 7-10-4 overall record and are tied for fourth place in the ECAC Hockey standings with 4-3-2 league mark. Despite outshooting both Colgate and Cornell and holding the opponents to under 20 shots in each game over the weekend, Clarkson suffered a pair of close defeats on its home ice. On Friday, the Green and Gold were edged by the Raiders 2-1, followed by a 2-0 loss to the Big Red on Saturday.

Clarkson outshot Colgate 28-15 (a season low shots for the Raiders) on Friday and then followed by equaling its season-high for shots, 36, and holding the Big Red to just 19 on Saturday. Despite those efforts, the Knights scored just one goal over the weekend and suffered their fourth shutout of the season and third whitewash at home.

Scouting Harvard

Lightly regarded in the preseason polls, Harvard has emerged as one of the surprised teams in the country this season and is ranked among the Top 5 in the national polls. Guided by 11th-year head coach Ted Donato, the Crimson post a 10-2-2 overall record and a second-place 6-1-2 ECAC Hockey mark. Harvard saw an eight-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday night in Madison Square Garden as Yale skated past the Crimson 4-1 in non-league action. Harvard's only other loss was 2-1 setback to the Bulldogs in ECAC Hockey play in Cambridge on November 15. The Crimson boast a high-scoring offense, tied for third in Division I averaging 3.71 goals per game. Harvard is equally impressive defensively, allowing just 2.00 GPG (8th in the nation). Jimmy Vesey is second in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 1.50 PPG (11-10-21), while Patrick McNally is the country's top-scoring defenseman with 1.14 PPG (4-12-16). The Crimson are very strong in specialty teams play, clicking at 26.9% (14-52) on the power play and shutting down 90% (45-50) of opponents' man-advantage opportunities.

Scouting Dartmouth

Guided by long-time college coach Bob Gaudet, now in his 18th-year at Harvard after nine-years at Brown, the Big Green of Dartmouth enter the North Country looking to snap out of a four-game (0-2-2) winless skid. Dartmouth, which owns a 6-6-3 overall record and a 3-4-1, 10th-place ECAC Hockey slate, plays at St. Lawrence on Friday night. The Big Green skated against a pair of New England rivals over the weekend, tying New Hampshire 2-2 on Friday in Durham before losing to Vermont in Hanover 4-1 on Sunday. Dartmouth is 4-4-1 this season at Thompson Arena. The Big Green's last win was an 8-3 home triumph over Sacred Heart on December 14.

Tyler Sikura leads a Dartmouth offense that is averaging 2.60 GPG. Defensively, the Big Green are allowing 2.20 GPG.

• The Knights and Harvard will be meeting for the 116th time in their all-time series which first began with a 2-1 Clarkson win in Lake Placid on December 28, 1935. The series is tied 52-52-11. The Crimson have gone 7-3 over the last 10 meetings and 3-2 in the last five games. The teams split two, one-goal games last year with each winning on the other's home ice. The Knights nipped Harvard 2-1 at Bright Hockey Center, while the Crimson skated to their fifth consecutive win at Cheel Arena with a 1-0 overtime triumph last February.

• Clarkson holds a significant 68-26-7 lead over Dartmouth in their series, which began with a 4-1 win in Hanover on February 4, 1929. The series has been fairly even recently with the Knights holding a 5-4-1 advantage in the last 10 games, while the Big Green have gone 3-2 in the past five meetings. Clarkson defeated Dartmouth 3-2 at Thompson Arena on November 8, 2013, while Dartmouth gained a 6-1 win Potsdam on February 15, 2014.

• Clarkson is 4-5-3 in away games this season, including a 2-1-2 mark in ECAC Hockey road contests.

• Clarkson has played in 13 games decided by one goal-or-less, going 4-5-4.

• Steve Perry(Ligonier, PA) ranks first in ECAC Hockey in conference save percentage (.960) and GAA (0.93), and second in win% (.800, 4-1-0). Perry shutout Colgate in the opening 20 minutes on Friday with seven saves, but suffered a lower body injury and did not return for the final two periods and did not dress for Saturday's game against Cornell. It is not know how long he will be out of action. Perry has played in 16 games overall, including 15 starts, and posts an overall .916 save percentage and a 1.85 goals against average en route to a 7-6-1 record, including one shutout.

• Clarkson has played in 13 games this season decided by one goal-or-less, going 4-5-4.

• Clarkson's play on specialty teams has mixed reviews. The Knights are strong on the penalty kill, at 84.7% (61-72), but have clicked at just 11.7% on the power play (7-60). The Green and Gold are first in the league on the PK (94.1%, 32-34). The only two goals allowed by the Knights on the man-advantage in ECAC action have been in the two games against Cornell (11/14, 1/10).

• Clarkson is only averaging 2.86 power plays per game (60 opportunities in 21 games (second lowest averaging the country behind only AIC (2.73).

• Senior Joe Zarbo (Grand Island, NY) leads the Knights in scoring with 11 points, including a team-high seven goals. He has 57 career points (29-28) in 124 games.

• Clarkson has not scored a third-period league goal yet.

• Sophomore Troy Josephs (Whitby, ONT) is Clarkson's leading playmaker with seven assists.

• After this weekend, the Knights open a five-game home stand with Brown next Friday.