Team Notes: Clarkson Faces Bentley on the Road
With a successful four-game home stand behind them, the Golden Knights of the Clarkson University Hockey team will take to the road this weekend to close out the season-opening, non-league portion of the schedule. Clarkson, guided by first-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy ’00 and Andy Jones, plays its third straight Atlantic Hockey foe when it faces off against Bentley University in a two-game series in Waltham, MA this Friday and Saturday. Game time for both nights is 7:00 p.m. from the John A. Ryan Skating Arena.
Led by senior captain Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY) and assistant
captains, grad student Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) and sophomore
Ben Sexton (Kanata, ONT), the Knights own a 4-1-1 overall record.
The Green and Gold were impressive at Cheel Arena the past two
weekends, outscoring their opponents 18-4 while skating to four
straight victories.
Last weekend in Potsdam, Clarkson skated
past American International 5-2 on Friday and then recorded its
second shutout of the season with a 5-0
blanking of the Yellow Jackets on Saturday.
Sophomore Allan McPherson (Kinburn, ONT), the Knights’ top returning scorer from the 2010-11 campaign, was the big gun for Clarkson against AIC. He recorded his first career multiple-goal game with two scores in Friday’s win and added a goal and an assist in Saturday’s victory. McPherson, who was named ECAC Player of the Week, tallied the game-winner in both contests.
Selected to the conference’s weekly Honor Roll, senior Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) combined for 57 saves on 59 shots in the series against AIC. He posted his second shutout in the past four games with 31 saves in Saturday's win.
Quarterback by freshman defenseman Sam Labrecque (Granby, QUE), the Knights power play has been on a torrid pace early in the season and is ranked third in the nation, clicking at 29.4% (10-34). Labrecque scored his first career goal, a power-play marker, and added an assist on Saturday. Labrecque, who was also named to the ECAC weekly Honor Roll, helped to set up the game-winner on Friday.
Bentley was looking for its first win of the season going into
Tuesday’s conference game at Sacred Heart. The Falcons,
guided by 10th-year head coach Ryan Soderquist, will have played
their first five games of the season on the road, prior to opening
the home schedule against Clarkson. Bentley has struggled to score
goals early in the season. The Falcons dropped a series at Michigan
(5-1, 4-1) on October 7-8 and then lost at UMass (5-3) and at
Quinnipiac (6-1) on October 14 and 18, respectively.
The Series:
This will be the second straight season Clarkson and Bentley have
played. In the first ever meetings against the Falcons, the Knights
skated to a win (5-1) and a tie (3-3) at Cheel Arena on October
22-23. Sophomores Ben Sexton (Kanata, ONT), David Pratt (Napanee,
ONT) and Matt Zarbo (Grand Island, NY) each scored their first
collegiate goal in the victory over Bentley last season. The
Falcons rallied from a 3-0 deficit after 40 minutes in the second
game to gain a 3-3 tie in Potsdam.
Knight Notes:
The Clarkson offense, which is ranked 10th in Division I, has been
very productive early in the season, averaging nearly four goals
per game through the first six contests. The Golden Knights
outscored their opponents 18-4 in the just completed four-game home
stand at Cheel Arena and in the process posted their longest home
winning streak (4 games) since the 2007-08 campaign … The
Knights have gotten off to quick starts, outscoring opponents
8-to-3 in the first period … Clarkson has scored the first
goal in five of the first six games … The Clarkson
power-play is third in the nation, clicking at 29.4% (10-34)
… The Knights have scored at least one ppg in every game
this season. Clarkson did not score its first ppg last season until
the eighth game … Eleven different Knights have scored goals
(7 with a ppg), and 16 have recorded at least one point …
Senior Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) leads the way offensively with a
team-high five goals and eight points … Coming off a
four-point (3-1) weekend against AIC, Allan McPherson now has seven
points (3-4) in six games. McPherson was named ECAC Hockey Player
of the Week … The play of freshman defenseman Sam Labrecque
on the point during the power play is a big reason for the
Knights’ success with the man-advantage. Clarkson’s
leading rookie scorer, all five (1-4) of Labrecque’s points
have come on the power play … Nick Tremblay recorded four
points (2-2) in the sweep of AIC, including his second career
three-point (1-2) game on Saturday … Sophomore Jarrett
Burton (Echo Bay, ONT) scored his second career shorthanded goal in
the 5-0 win over the Yellow Jackets … Paul Karpowich has
started the last 29 games in the Clarkson goal and 96 during his
career. He backstopped Clarkson to its second straight weekend
sweep, combining for 57 saves on 59 shots in weekend wins over AIC.
Karpowich posted his second shutout in the past four games, and
fourth career whitewash with 31 saves in Saturday’s 5-0 win.
He allowed just one even-strength goal over the weekend. Karpowich
is closing in on the all-time save record at Clarkson with 2,761
saves through 97 games. The Knights’ all-time record is 3,375
saves by Dan Murphy in 135 games from 1994-98 …
Clarkson’s penalty kill is ranked 13th in Div. I at 89.2%
(33-37).
CLARKSON in the NCAA RANKINGS - (October 23)
- TEAM -
Scoring Offense - 10th (3.83)
Scoring Defense - T-6th (1.83)
Scoring Margin - T-9th (2.00)
Power Play - 3rd (10-34, 29.4%)
Penalty Kill - 13th (33-37, 89.2%)
Penalty Minutes - T-17th (16.0)
- individual - Top 20 in NCAA
Goals Per Game - Oakley T-19th (0.83)
Power-Play Goals - Oakley, Cayer, Sexton T-12th (2)
Shorthanded Goals - Tansey, Burton T-1st (1)
Game-Winning Goals - Oakley, McPherson T-3rd (2)
Points Per Game Def. - Labrecque T-17th (.83)
Points Per Game Rookie - Labrecque T-16th (.83)
Save Percentage - Karpowich 9th (.941%)
Goals Against Average - Karpowich 14th (1.81)
Winning Percentage - Karpowich T-14th (.750%, 4-1-1)
