With nine games left in the regular season, the Clarkson University Women' s Hockey team will look to move up in the ECAC Hockey standings and hopefully repeat as regular-season champions. The first two teams during that stretch are Yale and Brown who will come to Cheel Arena for games this weekend. The Golden Knights host the Bulldogs at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and face off against the Bears at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Guided by seventh-year head coach Matt Desrosiers and first-year assistants Meghan Duggan and Britni Smith, the Golden Knights are 15-7-3 overall with a 9-2-2 record in ECAC Hockey games. They are third in the conference, just four points behind conference leader Quinnipiac, and are ranked eighth in the nation. The Green and Gold closed out the non-league portion of their schedule this past weekend. Clarkson skated to a 1-1 tie against 4th-ranked University of Wisconsin on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 2,273 at La Bahn Arena in Madison. On Sunday, the Knights were shut out by the Badgers 4-0.

Since returning from the break between semesters, junior Cayley Mercer (Exeter,ONT) has been the most consistent offensive performer for the Golden Knights. She has at least a point in five of the six games Clarkson has played in 2015. Before being held scoreless against Wisconsin on Sunday, she was on a seven-game streak with at least a point. Mercer is now tied for the team lead in points with 29 and is the leader in assists with 15.

Freshman goaltender Shea Tiley (Owen Sound, ONT) had two outstanding performances against Wisconsin last weekend. She set a new career high with 34 saves in the tie on Saturday and then followed that up with another 34 saves on Sunday. The 34 saves were the most made by a Clarkson goaltender since Erica Howe '14 made 34 stops of her own in the 2014 national championship game. Her performances earned her the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Week honor. She has also been named the ECAC Hockey Rookie of the Month twice and the ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week three different times. Tiley has been strong in net all season for the Golden Knights, ranking second in the ECAC Hockey conference in both goals against average and save percentage.

Other than Mercer, junior captain Shannon MacAulay (Mt. Herbert, PEI) was the only Clarkson skater to pick up a point this weekend. Her assist on Saturday gives her 14 this season, which is tied for second on the team. She also has a team-leading 15 goals this season. She is second in the conference in goals with nine against ECAC Hockey opponents. She is also tied for fourth in the conference with two game winning goals in conference games. In the prior meetings this season, MacAulay had a goal and an assist against Brown as well as a goal against Yale.

Junior assistant captains Erin Ambrose (Keswick, ONT) and Renata Fast (Burlington, ONT) along with freshman Savannah Harmon (Downers Grove, IL) have been the top point producers from the blue line this season. Among defenders in the ECAC Hockey conference, Harmon has the third-most points, with Fast just behind her at fourth, and Ambrose tied for fifth. The first meetings with Yale and Brown this season were the first appearances for Fast, who had an assist in each game. Harmon had a goal and two assists against Brown and then scored the game-winning goal against Yale.

Before Wisconsin outshot Clarkson twice last weekend, the Golden Knights had held an advantage in shots in six straight games and have outshot their opponent in 19 of 25 games this season. They are 15-2-2 in those games, while are 0-4-1 when their opponents hold a shot advantage. Clarkson had a season-high of 53 shots against UCONN on November 28, while the 38 shots Wisconsin tallied on Sunday was the most given up by Clarkson this season.

Clarkson has struggled this season against teams ranked in the national polls, with a just a 1-5-3 record in those games this season. However, with five different ECAC Hockey teams ranked in at least one poll, the Green and Gold will have opportunities to turn that record around.

Yale has a record of 9-11-1 overall and 6-8-0 in ECAC Hockey games this season. Their offense comes into the weekend ranked eighth overall in the nation, scoring 3.10 goals per game. However, they have not been able to score as consistently in conference games, as their average drops to only 2.43 goals per game against conference opponents. Clarkson holds a record of 15-5-1 all-time against the Bulldogs. The Green and Gold have won seven of the last eight meetings, with the last a 2-1 win in New Haven earlier this season.

Brown comes into the game with an overall record of 5-16-0 and are 2-12-0 in ECAC Hockey play. They have struggled in road games this season, losing all nine games they have played away from home. They have been unable to keep teams off the scoreboard in conference play, allowing 4.43 goals per game against conference opponents, a figure that places them at the bottom of the conference. Clarkson has an all-time record of 15-4-3 against the Bears and has not lost in the last 15 meetings, including a 5-1 win earlier this season.