After jumping out to a perfect start to the ECAC Hockey campaign, Clarkson University takes a break from conference action with the longest road trip in the program's 96-year history. The Golden Knights are in Northern Ireland this week competing in the Friendship Four at the SSE Arena in Belfast. Clarkson will play Rensselaer in the first round on Friday at 10:00 a.m. EST. The Knights will play either Providence or Maine in second round action on Saturday. Championship game is set for 2:00 p.m., while the consolation game is a 10:00 a.m. start.  Clarkson is looking to become the first ECAC Hockey team to capture the Belpot Trophy in the tournament's third year.

Guided by seventh-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy '00 and Josh Hauge, Clarkson stands at 10-3-2 overall, is ranked fifth in the national polls and owns the third longest winning streak in the country at six games. The Knights hold down first place in ECAC Hockey with a 6-0-0 conference mark.

FRIENDSHIP FOUR TV COVERAGE: WHERE TO WATCH

PDF of Friendship Four Notes
Audio Stream
Live Stats (Fri.) Live Stats (Sat.)
ECAC Hockey Standings
USCHO.com Poll
USA Today Poll


• Clarkson enters the Friendship Four coming off its first weekend sweep in Central NY since the 1996-97 campaign. The Knights snapped 19th-ranked Colgate's seven-game unbeaten streak on Friday with a 5-2 victory in Hamilton, NY. On Saturday, Clarkson shut out Cornell 4-0 at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, handing the 5th-ranked Big Red their first loss of the season.
• Clarkson boasts the number-one ranked defense in the nation, allowing only 1.50 goals per game. The Knights have outscored their opponents 45-21 through the first 14 games, and 27-8 during the current six-game winning streak (all in ECAC Hockey play).
• Offensively, the Green and Gold are averaging 3.21 goals per game, good for 16th best in Division I. The Knights have averaged 4.5 goals per game during the current win streak.
• A big part of Clarkson's success has been the productivity of the special teams. The Knights boast the best combined specialty teams play in the country at 61.4 percent (81-132). 
• Clarkson's power play is tied for the tops in the NCAA (along with defending national champion Denver), clicking at 30.5% (18-59). The Knights have scored at least one power-play goal in each of the last six games, and 13 total during that span. The Green and Gold have tallied at least two man-advantage goals in five of those games, including a pair of three power-play-goal outings. The Knights were a combined 4-9 (44%) in the weekend sweep at Colgate and Cornell.
• The Knights' penalty kill is rated 10th in the nation, killing off 86.3% of opponents power-play chances (63-73).
• Picked to finish fourth in ECAC Hockey this year by the league coaches, the Knights are  6-0-0 in the conference for the first time since the 1991-92 campaign. Clarkson returns to league action on December 8-9 with a home-and-home series against archrival St. Lawrence.  The Green and Gold play a non-league game at Canisius on December 2 to close out a seven-game road trip prior to the North Country series.
• After a standout freshman season when he was named ECAC Hockey's All-Rookie Goaltender, Jake Kielly has been even better to start his sophomore campaign. Playing every minute in the Clarkson crease, Kielly lists among the top goaltenders in the country in several categories. Kielly is second in Division I in goals against average (1.50), tied for second in save percentage (.946) and leads the nation in shutouts with four. Kielly has started 49 career games for the Knights, including the past 19, and holds a career .921 save percentage and a 2.26 GAA. In his first two seasons, Kielly is 10-0-2 in the Clarkson crease during the month of November. He has been named as one of the 20 goaltenders on the Mike Richter Award list for 2017-18, which honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I Hockey. Kielly was named ECAC Hockey co-Goaltender of the Month for October.
• Clarkson's leading scorer, sophomore right wing Sheldon Rempal was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Week for the second time this season. The conference's leading scorer, Rempal scored three goals and added one assist in Clarkson's weekend sweep in Central NY. He tallied twice in the 5-2 victory at Colgate, including the game-winner on the power play, to help the Green and Gold gain their first victory in Hamilton since February 3, 2007. The Calgary, ALB native scored his team-high 11th goal of the season and added an assist in the 4-0 win at Cornell on Saturday. Rempal tops ECAC Hockey in overall scoring with 18 points (11-7) through 14 games, and is sixth in the nation in goals per games (0.79).
• Clarkson's Sophomore Line centered by Nico Sturm with left wing Devin Brosseau and Rempal is accounting for 33% of the Knights' scoring. Along with Rempal's team-high 18 points, Brosseau adds 13 (3-10) and Sturm 10 (2-8), Brosseau is tied for second on the team lead with power-play tallies (3) and shares with Sturm the team lead in plus/minus at +10. 
• One of the Knights' emerging freshmen, Jack Jacome was honored as ECAC Hockey's Rookie of the Week. Jacome has been on a tear lately and added to his totals as he helped the Knights gain the sweep on the road over Colgate and Cornell. The right wing set up a pair of goals in Friday's victory over the Raiders and scored a goal and added an assist against the Big Red. The Caledon, ONT native has recorded 11 points (1-10) in the past six games.
• A big reason for Clarkson's success in ECAC Hockey action has been the emergence of the Freshman Line, centered by Josh Dickinson with left wing Kevin Charyszyn and Jacome. The trio has accounted for nine goals and 13 assists in the first six league games. 
• Dickinson, a teammate of Jacome with the Georgetown Raiders last year, has scored all seven of his goals over the past six games and tallied twice at Colgate for his second consecutive two-goal Friday night outing.  
• Charyszyn recorded his first collegiate points in the win at Brown (11/10) with a power-play goal and an assist. He added another assist in the victory at Colgate.
• Clarkson is 8-0 when leading after the first period and 10-0 when holding the lead through 40 minutes. 
• The Knights are 10-0-1 when scoring more than one goal, and 9-0-1 when connecting for a power-play goal.
• Senior blueline partners and NHL Draft choices Terrance Amorosa and Kelly Summers continue to produce both offensively and defensively.  Amorosa is Clarkson's second leading scorer and is sixth in the country in points per game among defensemen with 13 points on four goals and nine assists.  Amorosa, a Philadelphia Flyers draft choice, has tallied two goals and two assists in the last three games.  An Ottawa Senators draft pick, Summers has two goals and seven assists and is among the team leaders in blocked shots.
• Captain Nic Pierog is the first Golden Knight to wear the #6 jersey since the late Mike Morrison '89 wore it in his senior campaign of 1988-89.  Pierog has three goals, including a score at Colgate last Friday, and two assists.
• Senior Brett Gervais serves as an assistant captain along with Devin Brosseau. Gervais also has five points on the year with two goals and three assists.
• Sophomore Haralds Egle adds another resource to the Knights' offense.  After missing the first 10 games recovering from an injury, Egle scored early in the opening period at Brown (11/10) in his first game back in the lineup, and set up goals in last weeken's victories at Colgate and Cornell. 
• Eight different Golden Knights have scored game-winning goals this season, led by Rempal and freshman defenseman Jere Astren with two each.
• The Knights have scored the opening goal in nine of the 14 games this season and are 8-1 when doing so.
• Clarkson has outscored the 2017 Friendship Four field 10-0 this season. The Knights shut out RPI 6-0 in Potsdam on November 3 and blanked Providence at Cheel Arena 4-0 on October 21. The Knights and Maine have not played this season.
• Clarkson won Notre Dame's Shillelagh Tournament last year during the Thanksgiving Holiday, tying Yale 2-2 (advancing in a shootout win) and defeating the Fighting Irish 2-0 to claim its first in-season tournament title since 2006.
• Clarkson began its 57th season of ECAC Hockey play this year. Entering the 2017-18 campaign, the Knights boasted a 677-380-94 league record for a .629 winning percentage since the conference was formed in 1961-62.  Clarkson has won 10 regular-season titles, the last coming in 2007-08, and five conference tournament crowns, the last coming in 2007.
• In its 96th season, Clarkson boasts 72 winning campaigns and a 1,423-854-155 all-time record for a .617 winning % since 1920-21.

The Series:
Vs RPI: The Knights lead the overall series against Rensselaer, which dates back to the 1924-25 campaign, 93-51-11. Clarkson leads 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings and has won six of the last seven over the Engineers. In their first meeting this season, Clarkson skated to a dominating 6-0 shutout at Cheel Arena on November 3. Sheldon Rempal led the offense with his first career hat trick and Jake Kielly posted his third whitewash of the season with 17 saves. Josh Dickinson tallied his first career goal. 
RPI's last win in the series was a 2-1 victory in Potsdam on January 28.
Kelly Summers has a team-high 11 points in the series on four goals and seven assists. Rempal leads the way in goals with five. Terrance Amorosa has recorded eight points against the Engineers on four goals and four assists.
Jake Kielly holds a .919 save percentage and a 1.95 GAA through six games in the series.
Vs Providence: The Knights are unbeaten in their last five games (3-0-1) against Providence and lead the all-time series 35-16-2. Clarkson posted its third shutout in the series, which began in 1953, defeating the Friars 4-0 at Cheel Arena on October 21. Grant Cooper scored his first career goal for the game-winner and Devin Brosseau tallied twice. Jake Kielly put in a 26-save effort for the shutout.
Providence's last win in the series was a 4-2 victory at Schneider Arena on October 8, 2004.
Brett Gervais, who also scored in the win earlier this season, and Sheldon Rempal both have a team-high three points (1-2) in the series. Kielly posts a .958 save percentage and a 1.45 goals against average against Providence.
Vs Maine: Maine is one of the few teams on this year's schedule that holds an advantage over the Green and Gold in their all-time series. The Bears have won five straight, all on neutral ice, to take a 10-5-1 lead in the rivalry, which dates back to the 1979-80 campaign. The teams last played each other on December 29, 2011 in the Everblades College Classic in Florida with Maine skating to a 6-1 win. The Knights' last victory in the series was a 3-2 triumph in Potsdam on January 12, 1996.