Golden Knights Shine in Opener vs. Wayne State

POTSDAM, N.Y. -- A well balanced offensive showing combined with a stingy defensive effort led to a dominating 7-1 season-opening victory for Clarkson against Wayne State before 342 fans at Cheel Arena on Friday afternoon.

Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT), pictured, paced the Golden Knights offense with two goals and one assist. Junior Marie-Jo Gaudet (Sherbrooke, QUE) also chipped in two goals while last season's leading scorer, Genevieve Lavoie (Delson, QUE) added a goal and two assists.

Freshman Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY), benefiting from some strong defensive play, was solid in the Clarkson goal with a 15-save outing in her NCAA debut. The Knights outshot the Warriors 44-16, including a 17-2 margin in the second period.

Clarkson wasted little time in showcasing a potent offense, jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. Gaudet started the scoring at 3:33 when she flipped in a backhand from the bottom of the right circle after taking a pass from out of the corner by freshman Daris Tendler (Verwood, SASK). Forty-seven seconds later Lavoie connected off an assist from Selina.

Wayne State got on the scoreboard at 15:42 when sophomore Katrina Protopapas finished off a wrap-around attempt by senior Ashley King.

Gaudet picked up her second goal of the game, a power-play marker at 9:21 of the middle frame, off an assist from senior captain Katie Morrison (Ridgefield, CT). Selina made it 4-1 after two periods, connecting on a shot from the slot with Lavoie picking up the assist at 19:00.

Clarkson continued to roll in the final frame, adding three more scores to post the convincing six-goal victory.

Dahm came up with her biggest save of the night, stopping a Wayne State breakaway attempt right after the third-period opening faceoff. Clarkson came right back with Selina's second goal of the game, an unassisted marker at 2:10. Freshman Melissa Waldie (Newmarket, ONT) made it 6-1 with her first collegiate tally at 4:06 with Lavoie setting up the power-play goal. Senior assistant captain Brooke Beazer (Kingston, ONT) closed out the scoring at 16:43 with the Knights' third power-play marker of the game. Tendler recorded the assist.

Clarkson finished 3-of-6 on the power play, and shutdown all five of the Warriors man-advantage chances.

The Knights and Wayne State will faceoff again on Saturday at 12 noon.