After returning to ECAC Hockey play in the New Year by earning five of a possible six league points in a three-game home stand, the Clarkson University Hockey team will strive to continue its momentum in conference play when it opens a four-game road trip this weekend in New York’s Capital District region. Guided by first-year head coach Casey Jones and assistant coaches Phil Roy ’00 and Andy Jones, the Golden Knights play Union in Schenectady on Friday night and then battle Rensselaer on Saturday in Troy. Both games are 7:00 p.m. face-offs and will be broadcast live by Time Warner TV.

Clarkson, led by senior captain Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY) and assistant captains, grad student Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) and sophomore Ben Sexton (Kanata, ONT), owns an 11-10-5 overall record. On a current five-game unbeaten streak in conference play (3-0-2), the Green and Gold are tied for fourth place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 5-4-3 league mark.

Before 3,899 fans, the fourth-largest crowd ever at Cheel Arena, Clarkson put in an impressive effort against St. Lawrence on Saturday, skating by its archrival 4-3. The Knights dominated St. Lawrence by out-shooting the Saints 50-13, but needed a pair of third-period goals to overtake their North Country neighbor. Trailing 3-2 after two periods, Clarkson converted two of its 14 chances in the final 20 minutes to earn the victory and gained the ECAC Hockey regular-season series sweep of the Saints for the second consecutive year.

Tremblay tallied a career-high four points on a goal and three assists to highlight an outstanding effort and a pair of freshmen netted big goals in the comeback. Rookie Patrick Marsh (Oakville, ONT) came through with the winning goal, on his second collegiate score, at 10:50 of the third period. First-year defenseman James Howden (Edgeley, SASK) scored his first collegiate goal early in the second period to tie the game 2-2.

Tremblay and senior Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT), who tallied the game’s first goal on Saturday, shared the Clarkson scoring lead with 23 points each with 11 goals and 12 assists through 24 games. Freshman defenseman Sam Labrecque (Granby, QUE), follows with 16 points (4-12). Labrecque scored two goals, including the game-winner and one assist in the 5-4 overtime victory over Yale on January 15. Sexton, who assisted on the Knights’ last two goals against St. Lawrence, and senior Corey Tamblyn (Bobcaygeon, ONT), both have 15 points.

Regarded as one of the top goaltenders in the nation, senior Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT), posts a .931 save percentage, a 2.10 goals against average and is tied for third in the country for shutouts with five. Karpowich, who has started 24 games this season, is 46 stops shy of breaking the Knights’ all-time save record. He has 3,330 saves through 116 games.

Ranked 13th/14th in the national polls, Union opens a four-game home stand at Messa Rink with Friday’s game against the Knights. The Dutchmen, guided by first-year head coach Rick Bennett, own a 13-6-6 overall record and are in second place in the league with a 7-3-3 ECAC Hockey mark. Union saw its four-game-winning streak snapped this past Saturday with a 3-2 loss at Brown. Union won at Yale 3-1 on Friday. The Dutchmen are 3-2-3 in Schenectady this season.

The 2011-12 season has been a rough campaign for Rensselaer, but the Engineers are showing signs of turning things around after going 3-1-1 since early January. This past weekend, RPI posted back-to-back wins for the first time this year, defeating Brown (3-0) and Yale (2-1) on the road. Sixth-year head coach Seth Appert’s squad owns a 6-17-1 overall record and a 3-8-1conference slate prior to Friday’s game vs. St. Lawrence. RPI is 3-6-1 at Houston Field House this season.

The Series:

Clarkson leads the all-time series against Union, which began with a 5-1 Dutchmen win in Schenectady on January 23, 1925, 27-18-5. Union, however, is on its longest winning streak in the rivalry with eight straight victories and has outscored the Green and Gold 45-14 during the stretch. Clarkson battled the Dutchmen tough in their last meeting, but Union was able to hold off the Knights for a 3-1 victory at Cheel Arena on November 5.

The Dutchmen, who are 8-1-1 over the last 10 meetings in the series, handed the Knights one of their worst losses in the program’s history with an 11-2 defeat at Messa Rink on February 5, 2010, and followed that up with an 8-1 triumph in Schenectady on January 8 last year. The Knights’ last win in the series was a 4-3 overtime victory in Potsdam on January 23, 2009. Clarkson is 12-12-4 all-time at Messa Rink, and last won in Schenectady on March 6, 2005 (4-3 in overtime).

Nick Tremblay leads the Green and Gold in points against the Dutchmen with three points in nine games. Corey Tamblyn has scored a team-high two goals against Union. Paul Karpowich has played 329 minutes through seven games against the Dutchmen and posts a .860 save percentage, a 5.11 GAA and a 0-6 record.

In a heated rivalry which dates back to the 1924-25 campaign, Clarkson leads the overall series against Rensselaer 82-44-8. The Knights have won six of the last nine meetings against RPI, including a 4-1 triumph in Potsdam on November 4. Last season, the teams split with each winning on the other’s home ice. Clarkson handed the Engineers their first home loss in 2010-11 with a 3-2 overtime triumph at Houston Field House on January 7. Rensselaer, however, came back to post a 5-1 victory at Cheel Arena on February 19. The Engineers swept the regular-season series from Clarkson for the first time in six seasons by winning both games in 2009-10, 5-2 in Potsdam (11/13/09) and 2-1 in Troy (2/6/10).

Corey Tamblyn has scored a team-high five goals through five games in the series, including two scores in the win in Troy last season. He also scored two goals in the first meeting this season. Nick Tremblay also has five points against RPI with two goals and three assists through seven games. Paul Karpowich is 4-3 against RPI with a .906 save percentage and a 2.71 GAA.

Knight Notes:

Clarkson’s return home after its longest road trip in 71 years (nine-games) was a success as the Knights gained five points in ECAC Hockey play during three straight games at Cheel Arena. Playing in Potsdam for the first time since mid-November, the Green and Gold skated in three tight games, tying Brown (2-2) and defeating Yale (5-4ot) on January 14-15, and then gained the league regular-season series sweep of their archrival for the second consecutive year with a 4-3 victory over St. Lawrence this past Saturday. Clarkson also defeated the Saints in ECAC play, 5-3 in Canton on December 6 … The Knights are 8-2-1 at Cheel this season after posting just six home wins last year … The crowd of 3,899 at Saturday’s win over St. Lawrence was the fourth-largest crowd ever at Cheel and the most fans to watch a Clarkson game in Potsdam since 3,914 turned out for a 3-2 Clarkson victory over the Saints on January 27, 2006 … Nearing the end of his collegiate career, Nick Tremblay is playing a big role in the Knights’ offense of late with a four-game point streak. He has tallied two goals and six assists in 2012. Tremblay is tied with classmate Louke Oakley for the Knights’ scoring lead with 23 points, including team highs for goals (11) and assists (12). He enjoyed a career night against St. Lawrence, figuring in on all the Clarkson scoring with a power-play goal and three assists. Tremblay has 75 career points (27-48) through 130 games … Oakley has recorded three goals and two assists over the past two games … Ben Sexton is averaging over a point per game with six goals and nine assists through 14 contests … Since returning to the lineup on December 29 after missing the previous 12 games with an injury, Sexton has tallied three goals and three assists in a six-game span. He set up the last two Clarkson goals in Saturday’s come-from-behind win over St. Lawrence … The Knights’ power play is starting to turn around as Clarkson has gone 4-of-7 (.57%) over the past two games. For the season, Clarkson is 22-124 (17.7%) with the man-advantage … A pair of freshmen played key roles in Saturday’s win over SLU. Rookie defenseman James Howden tied the game 2-2 early in the second with his first collegiate goal. Classmate Patrick Marsh netted the game-winner midway through the third with his second career goal … Paul Karpowich is ranked among the top goaltenders in the nation with a .931 save percentage (7th) and a 2.10 goals against average (12th), and is tied for third in the country in shutouts (5). He is closing in on the all-time save record at Clarkson with 3,330 through 117 games. The Knights’ all-time record is 3,375 saves by Dan Murphy ’98 in 135 games from 1994-98 ... Clarkson outshot St. Lawrence 50-13 on Saturday. The last time the Knights put 50 shots on goal was when they had 53 in a 5-1 win over Bentley at Cheel on October 22, 2010. The last time Clarkson held a team to 13 shots on goal was in a 4-1 loss to St. Cloud State in Potsdam on November 23, 2007 … Saturday’s win over the SLU, when the Knights were behind 3-2 through 40 minutes, was the first time in over two years Clarkson came back to win a game when trailing through two periods ... Seven former Clarkson standouts have skated in the National Hockey League this season. Last year’s captain Mark Borowiecki was recently called up to the Ottawa Senators and has played in one game through January 22. He joins Grant Clitsome ’08 (Columbus), Erik Cole (Montreal), Kent Huskins ’01 (St. Louis), Randy Jones (Winnipeg), Willie Mitchell (Los Angeles) and Steve Zalewski ’08 (New Jersey) who have seen action in the NHL during the 2011-12 campaign.