In a battle between a pair of Top 15 rated teams, 8th-ranked Clarkson came out on top defeating 13th-ranked Arizona State 2-1 in overtime in the opening game of a key weekend series at Cheel Arena on Friday night.

The Golden Knights, who improved to 17-5-2, and Sun Devils (15-9-3) square off again on Saturday night in a 7:30 p.m. start.

Junior Jack Jacome (Caledon, ONT) was the overtime hero for the Green and Gold, jamming in a rebound 65 seconds into the extra session. Jacome battled for a loose puck at the front of the net after a shot by sophomore Josh Dunne (O'Fallon, MO) and was able to push it past Sun Devil goaltender Evan Debrouwer for his fifth goal of the season and team-high third game-winner of the year. Junior defenseman Connor McCarthy (LaSalle, QUE) picked up the secondary assist after bringing the puck up ice and into the Arizona State zone.

Clarkson controlled much of the play in the 60 minutes of regulation action and finished with a season-high 44 shots, while Arizona State had 24.

In a relatively penalty-free contest, the Knights were 0-of-2 on the power play, while the Sun Devils went 0-of-1. Clarkson had the first man-advantage of the game just 17 seconds after the opening faceoff.

Clarkson took the opening lead early in the game. Freshman Anthony Romano (Richmond Hill, ONT), a 2019 NHL Draft choice of the Arizona Coyotes, tipped in a shot in front off a shot by junior Zach Tsekos (Montreal, QUE) at 3:14. Senior defenseman Jordan Schneider (Toronto, ONT) also assisted.

Knights were dominant to open the middle frame, but could not connect on numerous opportunities, and then things turned in favor of the visitors.

James Sanchez tied the game, redirecting a shot from the blueline past Clarkson goaltender Frank Marotte (Longueuil, QUE) at 12:18 of the second period.

The Knights, who held a 24-15 shot margin through 40 minutes, continued to pressure in the third period, but despite a 17-9 advantage in shots during the stanza could not come up with the go-ahead goal before regulation time expired.

Jacome finished off the Green and Gold's third shot in the extra session to lift the Knights to a 4-0-2 mark in overtime.

Marotte finished with 23 saves.