Team Notes: Clarkson Seeks Turnaround
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The following article appeared November 25 on the Clarkson Web site.
A pair of well earned ties against the number-one ranked team in
the country and a top 15 rating in the national polls seems like
such a long time ago for the Clarkson University Hockey team. A
season of high expectations has suddenly been thrown off balance
for the Golden Knights, who, hampered by a rash of injuries, are
reeling in a tailspin. The Green and Gold have lost five straight
games, including their past three games at Cheel Arena.
Guided by sixth-year head coach George Roll, associate coach Greg
Drechsel and assistant coach Jean-Francois Houle, Clarkson opened
the 2008-09 campaign with 6-4 victory at RIT on October 17 and
looked to be living up to its lofty preseason expectations after
skating to consecutives ties (1-1, 2-2) against then number-one
ranked Colorado College in Potsdam on October 24-25. The 2008 ECAC
Hockey regular season champions, the Knights began defense of their
conference title with a 3-1 triumph over Brown in their league
opener on November 7. Since then, however, the Green and Gold have
struggled and are currently in their longest losing skid since
early in the 2004-05 campaign.
This past weekend at Cheel, the Knights could not match the
momentum of Quinnipiac and Princeton, two of the hottest teams in
the conference. On Friday, the Bobcats jumped out to a 3-0 lead
midway through the second frame en route to a 4-2 win. Clarkson
suffered the same fate on Saturday, falling to 8th-ranked
Princeton. The Tigers gained a 3-0 advantage halfway through the
contest before the Knights staged a rally in the third with a pair
of goals 54 seconds apart. Late penalties, however, hindered
Clarkson’s chances to tie the score and the visitors sealed
the win with an empty-net power-play marker in the final seconds.
Complete article can be accessed via the Clarkson Web site by clicking here.
