Looking to grow from the lessons learn last weekend against a Top-10 foe, a young Clarkson University Women's Hockey team closes out the season-opening, non-league portion of the schedule this weekend with a home-and-home series against College Hockey America's Syracuse University. The Golden Knights, guided by seventh-year head coach Matt Desrosiers and first-year assistants Meghan Duggan and Britni Smith, will face off against the Orange at Cheel Arena on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. and then travel to Central New York to play Syracuse on Saturday in a 3:00 p.m. contest.

ECAC Hockey Regular Season Champions in 2013-14, Clarkson will begin defense of its title on Tuesday, October 28 when the Green and Gold host St. Lawrence University at 7:00 p.m. in the first off 22 conference contests. Ranked 10th in the national polls, Clarkson, led by junior captain Shannon MacAulay (Mt. Herbert, PEI) and junior assistant captains Erin Ambrose (Keswick, ONT), Renata Fast (Burlington, ONT) and Olivia Howe (Moose Jaw, SASK), stands at 3-3 overall.

The Knights are looking to bounce back from a pair of losses to sixth-ranked Boston University in Potsdam that snapped a three-game winning streak last weekend. The Terriers won a tight 3-1 game last Friday and then skated to a 5-2 victory on Saturday.

Syracuse, from College Hockey America, owns a 1-1-4 overall record and enters the weekend having played in four straight ties. Guided by former St. Lawrence head coach Paul Flanagan, the Orange battled Province to a 3-3 draw last Saturday and finished with a 2-2 tie against Connecticut on Sunday. The Orange opened a four-game home stand on October 10 and 11 with ties against Northeastern (1-1) and New Hampshire (2-2). Syracuse began the 2014-15 campaign with a 2-1 win at home over Colgate on October 2 before falling 10-2 at Top-5 ranked Boston College on October 4.

• Clarkson and Syracuse have played eight times with the Knights owning a 7-1 advantage in the series, including six straight victories. In their last meetings, the Green and Gold swept the Orange early last October, winning 2-1 in Syracuse and 4-0 at Cheel for the first shutout in the rivalry.

• Junior Cayley Mercer (Exeter, ONT) leads Clarkson in scoring with eight points on four goals and four assists. She has a five-game point scoring streak and is ranked 10th in the nation in goals per game (0.67) and 11th in Division I in points per game (1.33).

• Sophomore Genevieve Bannon (3-2) and Christine Lambert (1-4) have five points each for the Knights' offense that is ranked eighth in the country, averaging 2.67 goals per game.

• Shannon MacAulay has tallied three goals and one assist and powers the Clarkson power play with two man-advantage tallies.

• The Knights power play is ranked third in the nation, clicking at 27.8% (5-18).

• A 2014 All-American, Erin Ambrose headlines the Clarkson defensive unit, which is ranked 16th in the country, allowing only 2.33 goals per game. Ambrose is closing in on the coveted Century Mark with 90 career points on 22 goals and 68 assists through 77 games. Ambrose has four points (2-2) this season.

• Freshman Shea Tiley (Owen Sound, ONT) has seen the bulk of the action in the Clarkson goal through the early going. She has played in all six games, starting five, and posts a .920 save percentage and a 1.75 goals against average along with two shutouts.

• Brielle Bellerive (North Vancouver, BC) leads the Knights' rookies in scoring with two assists.

• Erin Ambrose and former Golden Knight standouts Erica Howe '14 and Jamie Lee Rattray '14 are among the 23 players that have been selected to part of Canada's National Women's Team for the 2014 4 Nations Cup, taking place Nov. 4-8 at the Interior Savings Centre in Kamloops, B.C. The 2014 4 Nations Cup will bring together four top women's hockey countries in the world - Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States – for the 19th annual international tournament.