Potsdam, NY – Three power-play goals, including two second-period scores from junior Rhyen McGill, lifted the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team to a 4-1 win over Yale on Saturday afternoon as the Golden Knights completed their ECAC Hockey Quarterfinals sweep of the Bulldogs at Cheel Arena.

The second-ranked Golden Knights improved to 31-4-1 overall while the Bulldogs saw their season end at 10-17-4. The Green and Gold will host the conference semifinals and championship game next weekend at Cheel Arena. The semifinals will take place at 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm while Sunday's championship game is scheduled for 2:00 pm.

"We knew coming into today's game that we were going to see a different Yale team which made getting off to a good start very important," stated Head Coach Matt Desrosiers. "I thought we did a great job starting the game with energy which really helped set the tone early. We had some good looks at the net, but weren't able to get one past their goalie, who I thought made some nice saves. Our second period probably wasn't as solid as we would have liked, but a couple nice goals by Rhyen gave us the lead heading into the third. In the third period we played smart and simple hockey and competed hard to get the win. Overall I thought it was a very solid weekend and something we can take a lot of positives from heading into the ECAC Championship weekend."

McGill completed a hat trick, the second in as many nights for Clarkson, when she tallied an empty net goal at the 16:10 mark of the third period. It was the third hat trick of the season for Clarkson.

A day after recording four goals in the first period, including three in the first 4:12 of the game, the Golden Knights came up empty in the opening 20 minutes. However, it was not for a lack of opportunity. Clarkson enjoyed several excellent chances, and its three best shots never actually made it on net, instead going wide because the Knights were unable to handle the passes sent their way. Clarkson still held a 15-3 edge in shots in the first period, with junior Loren Gabel doubling up the Bulldogs on her own with six attempts, including two slap shots that rattled off the mask of Yale goaltender Kyra O'Brien. Despite the heavy advantage, the two teams ended the first period scoreless.

The Bulldogs came out with a renewed effort in the second period and it paid dividends less than six minute into the frame. The two teams traded brief possession, and some idleness on Clarkson's part allowed Yale to get on the board. A harmless dumping pass into the Clarkson end went by several Golden Knight defenders and made it to Shea Tiley, who looked to hold the puck and find a teammate behind the net. Instead, Yale senior Emily Monaghan hustled through the Clarkson defense, stole the puck, and quickly worked her way around the goal for a wraparound shot, tucking the puck just inside the post before Tiley could recover. The unassisted goal came at the 5:59 mark of the second.

For the first 33 minutes, neither team committed a penalty, but Yale was whistled for two infractions late in the second period and those lapses proved costly for the Bulldogs. A tripping penalty at the 13:05 mark gave Clarkson a power-play opportunity and the Knights took full advantage. After Yale cleared the zone and sent the puck to the other end, Loren Gabel picked up the puck behind the Clarkson net and sent a pass to Michaela Pejzlova near the blue line. From there, Pejzlova skated all the way to the near circle and dropped a pass into the slot to Rhyen McGill, who worked back to the circle and wristed a shot top shelf over the glove side of Kyra O'Brien to tie the game 1-1 at 13:56.

Less than four minutes later, the Bulldogs were called for a body check near center ice at the 17:19 mark and it took the Knights only 12 seconds to take the lead. Pejzlova gained control of the puck from Savannah Harmon on a pass from the top of one circle to the other, and Pejzlova then tapped a pass down to Elizabeth Giguere who was parked 15-feet to the right of the goal. Giguere then found an open McGill in the circle, and the junior one-timed a shot over the stick side of O'Brien at 17:31, giving the Knights a 2-1 advantage. The assist gave Giguere 39 on the season, surpassing the previous school standard of 38 set by Genevieve Bannon in 2016-17.

In the third period, Clarkson survived 32 seconds of a 5-on-3 before the Bulldogs were whistled for a penalty of their own. Skating 4-on-4 for a bit, the Knights killed off the two penalties and then went on a 5-on-3 power play after a body-checking penalty in the midst of a rally in the Yale end. Though the Bulldogs were able to kill off the first penalty, the second proved too much to overcome. Loren Gabel gathered the puck behind the net and sent a pass to Savannah Harmon at the blue line, immediately passing the puck back to Gabel. The junior then passed down to Giguere right in front of the net, but Giguere tipped the puck back to Gabel who lifted a shot over the shoulder of O'Brien for Clarkson's third power-play goal of the game, coming at 10:14.

Yale pulled its goalie with a little over four minutes to go in the game, hoping to chip away at Clarkson's advantage. The strategy backfired, however, as the faceoff went the Golden Knights way. After winning the joust at the circle, Lauren Lefler kicked the puck back to Josiane Pozzebon, who skated around the net and found McGill along the boards. McGill then did the rest, skating up ice and taking a shot from just one stride over the centerline, to make it 4-1.

The Golden Knights finished the game with a 36-17 edge in shots while going 3-for-4 on the power play. The Bulldogs went scoreless in their three chances with an extra skater. Tiley picked up her 30th win of the season by stopping 16 shots, while O'Brien made 32 saves for Yale.