Team Notes: Golden Knights Look to Lock Up Playoff Berth

Holding down sixth place in the ECAC Hockey standings with two games remaining in the regular season, the Clarkson University Women’s Hockeyteam will look to lock up one of the eight conference playoff berths when it travels to NY’s Capital District region this weekend. The Golden Knights play at Rensselaer in Troy on Friday at 7:00 p.m., and at Union in Schenectady on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Guided by third-year co-head coaches Matt and Shannon Desrosiers, Clarkson owns an 11-15-6 overall record and an 8-8-6 ECAC Hockey mark. With four points left to be gained in the league, the Green and Gold are four points out of the fourth, the final home-ice spot, and two points ahead of Colgate, Rensselaer and St. Lawrence, who are tied for seventh.

The Knights will look to break out of a five-game winless stretch (0-2-3) after having lost their last two games. On Tuesday, Clarkson suffered a 2-1 overtime loss at St. Lawrence. This past weekend at Cheel Arena, Clarkson skated to a 3-3 tie with 10th-ranked Harvard before falling to Dartmouth 3-1. The Knights, who are 5-9-1 in road games this season, last won on January 29 with a 3-2 victory at Princeton.

Senior Melissa Waldie (Newmarket, ONT) leads the Clarkson offense with 21 points on 14 goals and seven assists. The Knights’ all-time leading goal scorer, Waldie has amassed 66 goals and 52 assists for 118 points through 144 career games. Freshmen Carly Mercer (Exeter, ONT) (7-12) and Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ONT) (5-14) pace Clarkson’s talented rookie class with 19 points each.

Freshman Erica Howe (Ottawa, NY) has established herself as a solid Division I goaltender. Playing in 20 games, Howe posts a .927 save percentage and a 1.92 goals against average en route to a 7-5-5 record, including one shutout. Clarkson’s all-time winningest goaltender, senior Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY) holds a .920 save percentage, a 2.59 GAA and a 4-10-1 record, including one shutout, through 15 starts. Dahm boast a career record of 49-35-12 and is tied for the Clarkson shutout mark at 20.

Rensselaer is fighting for one of the last playoffs spots with an 8-10-2 ECAC Record. The Engineers own a 10-14-7 overall mark. RPI is on a three-game winless skid (0-2-1) after having been swept on the road at Quinnipiac (5-1) and Princeton (4-2). RPI has just one win over its last eight games, a 4-2 victory over Brown at Houston Field House on February 4. The Engineers are 5-3-6 in Troy.

Union owns a 2-27-3 overall record and is in 12th-place in ECAC Hockey with a 1-10-1 conference mark. The Dutchwomen were swept on the road last weekend, losing at Princeton (3-1) and Quinnipiac (4-0). Union picked up its first conference win with a 3-2 triumph over Brown at Messa Rink on February 5. The Dutchwomen, who host St. Lawrence on Friday, are 2-16-0 in Schenectady.