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Clarkson University Athletics

Clarkson Looks to Build Momentum for Postseason

MHOCseniors18

Men's Hockey | 2/21/2018 10:26:00 AM

Class of 2018 (l-r): Brett Gervais, Tyko Karjalainen, Dylan Gareau, Kelly Summers, Terrance Amorosa, Nic Pierog, Ben Dalpe

This past weekend Clarkson University Hockey  secured a top-four spot in the ECAC Hockey standings and an upcoming bye in the first round of the league playoffs. That was the good news. The Golden Knights, however, are struggling through their longest winless stretch in three seasons after dropping both games on the road in New England over the weekend, losing 3-2 at Dartmouth on Friday and 5-2 at Harvard on Saturday. Winless in its last seven games (0-4-3) and just 1-5-4 since mid-January, Clarkson will look to get back on the winning track and build some momentum for the postseason when it closes out the regular season this weekend, hosting Princeton and Quinnipiac at Cheel Arena. Both games are 7:00 p.m. starts.

The Knights, ranked 9th/10th in the national polls, stand at 19-8-5 overall and are in third place in the conference with an 11-5-4 ECAC Hockey slate. The Green and Gold can finish either second, third or fourth in the league standings.

PDF of Princeton-Quinnipiac Weekend release 
B993's Mike Vaillancourt's Coaches Corner
USCHO.com Poll
USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
NCAA Pairwise
ECAC Hockey Standings

FAN VOTE for Jake Kielly and Sheldon Rempal
 
• The Knights will honor their four-year veterans during Senior Night on Saturday. Clarkson's Class of 2018 – Terrance Amorosa, Ben Dalpe, Dylan Gareau, Brett Gervais, Tyko Karjalainen, Nic Pierog and Kelly Summers - will make their final regular-season appearance before the home crowd. Over their four-year careers, the Knights' seniors have compiled 69 victories, hoisted two in-season tournament championship trophies, earned a home-ice berth in the ECAC Hockey playoffs all four years, won three conference first-round postseason series and have led the Green and Gold to one of their best seasons ever in their senior campaign. 
• With the seniors' leadership in 2017-18, Clarkson has posted 19 wins, including 11 in conference play, became the first ECAC Hockey team to win the Friendship Four Tournament in Belfast, Northern Ireland, posted the second-longest winning streak (14 games) in the program's 96-year history, earned its highest position ever in the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls with a 2nd-place ranking, while also receiving first-place votes, and has earned a top-four spot in the ECAC Hockey standings and a first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs for the first time since 2008. The Knights are also ready to earn a bid into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years.
• Clarkson holds a decisive 83-33-5 lead in the all-time series against Princeton, which began with an 8-5 Knight victory in New Jersey on January 17, 1928. The Knights have struggled at Princeton in recent meetings, however, losing their last four games at Hobey Baker Rink, including a 4-3 setback 20 days ago. Clarkson has been dominant over the Tigers at Cheel Arena with a 30-5 record. Last season, the Green and Gold won 4-2 in Potsdam. The Tigers' last win at Cheel was a 3-2 overtime triumph in Game 1 of the 2014 conference first-round series. 
• Quinnipiac leads the all-time series, which first started with a 4-0 Clarkson win in Northford, CT on February 8, 2000, 15-10-3. The Bobcats are 3-1-1 in the last five meetings, including a 4-1 win in Hamden, CT on February 2. The teams split last season with each winning on the other's home ice. Quinnipiac has won its last two games at Cheel, including a 5-3 victory on November 4, 2016 in its last trip to Potsdam. The Bobcats are 7-5-1 at Cheel. The Knights' last win at home in the series was 2-1 on November 21, 2014.
• The Knights are 8-2-4 at home, 9-6-1 on the road and 2-0-0 in neutral site games (Belfast)this season.  Clarkson will not play another game on an opponent's home ice this season. After this weekend, the Green and Gold are off for a week and then host an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series on March 9-11.  All games after that, should Clarkson advance, will be played at neutral sites. 
• Since its 14-game winning streak ended on January 19 with the 6-6 tie against Harvard at Cheel Arena, the Knights have been outscored 32-26 and have gone 0-3-4 in games decided by one goal-or-less.
• The Knights have outscored their opponents in every period this season with the closest margin coming in the third period, 34-26. During the Green and Gold's recent struggles, the Knights have been outscored 9-6 in the first period and 13-11 over the final 20 minutes. Clarkson has outscored only one opponent in the third period during the last 10 games, a 2-0 margin over Yale in the 4-1 victory on January 26. 
• Clarkson boasts the second-rated defense in the nation, allowing only 1.88 goals per game.  The Knights posted their eighth shutout of the season with 0-0 tie against Cornell on February 9.  Clarkson, however has given up 20 goals combined in the other five games this month.
• After combining for 17 goals in the first four games of 2018, the Knights have produced only 20 goals in the last nine games. Clarkson is tied for 14th in the nation in offense, averaging 3.12 goals a game for the season.  The scoreless tie with Cornell was the first time the Knights failed to score a goal in two seasons, since suffering a 3-0 loss to UMass-Lowell at the Three Rivers Classic on December 28, 2015.
• Despite the recent struggles, the Knights remain tops in the nation in combined specialty teams play (56.3%, 147/261). 
• Clarkson's power play is first in the country, clicking at 28% (37-132). The Knights have gone 4-of-7 on the man-advantage over the past three games and 7-of-17 in the last six.
• The Knights' penalty kill is 8th in the NCAA at 85.3% (110-129). 
• Clarkson has outshot its opponents in each of the last seven games, including putting a season-high 42 shots on Colgate in a 4-4 tie on February 10.
• After going four games without a point, Clarkson's leading scorer, sophomore Sheldon Rempal has tallied five points (2-3) in his last two games. After missing the Dartmouth game on Friday due to illness, he assisted on both goals at Harvard. Rempal is averaging over a point per game with 35 through 31 games. He is sixth in the nation in goal scoring with 20. Rempal has 58 career points (31-27) in 70 games. He became the second Golden Knight in as many seasons to score 20 goals. Troy Josephs '17 recorded 20 goals in 37 games last season. The last time Clarkson had back-to-back 20-goal scorers was in 1995-96 and 1996-97 when Todd White '97 put up 29 and 38 goals, respectively.
• Sophomore center Nico Sturm is the NCAA's top player on face offs, winning .62.7% (372-221) of his draws. The Knights' second leading scorer, Sturm recorded his fourth career two-goal game with both tallies, a pair of power-play goals, at Harvard. Those were his first goals since January 20. Sturm has 29 points (12-17), including five power-play markers, three game-winners and two shorthanded tallies.
• A 2014 Ottawa Senators' draftee, senior defenseman Kelly Summers leads Clarkson in scoring from the blueline with 25 points. He shares the team lead in assists with 20. He leads the Knights in blocks shots with 45 and posts a +9 plus/minus.

Scouting Princeton
Guided by former Clarkson assistant coach Ron Fogarty, Princeton has been one of ECAC Hockey's stronger teams in 2018, winning six of its last eight games to put itself in contention for home ice in the first round of the league playoffs. The Tigers are tied for seventh in the conference standings with a 9-10-1 ECAC Hockey slate. The Tigers can finish anywhere from fifth to ninth. Overall, Princeton is 12-12-3. Princeton overwhelmed RPI 7-2 on Friday before losing at home to Union 4-1 on Saturday. The Tigers are 5-6 in road games. The Tigers boast the most productive offense in ECAC Hockey and are sixth in NCAA for goals per games (3.44). Princeton is led by three 30-point scorers, Max Veronneau (39), Ryan Kuffner (37) and David Hallisey (32). The Tigers struggle defensively, allowing 3.33 GPG (50th nationally).  

Scouting Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac, which plays at St. Lawrence on Friday, has also been solid in the second half, going, 5-3-2 since early January. The Tigers are in ninth place in the ECAC Hockey standings with an 8-10-2 record. Quinnipiac can finish from 5th-9th.  Overall, the Bobcats stand at 13-15-4. Quinnipiac split at home over the weekend, losing to Union 5-2 before downing RPI 4-1.

The Series:
Clarkson holds a decisive 83-33-5 lead in the all-time series against Princeton, which began with an 8-5 Knight victory in New Jersey on January 17, 1928. The Knights have struggled at Princeton in recent meetings, however, losing their last four games at Hobey Baker Rink, including a 4-3 setback 20 days ago. Clarkson has been dominant over the Tigers at Cheel Arena with a 30-5 record. Last season, the Green and Gold won 4-2 in Potsdam. The Knights also swept a 2016 ECAC Hockey first-round series at Cheel over Princeton (3-2 2ot, 3-2ot).  The Tigers' last win in Potsdam was a 3-2 overtime triumph in Game 1 of the 2014 conference first-round series. 

Terrance Amorosa is averaging almost a point per game against the Tigers with one goal and six assists through eight games. Ben Dalpe has tallied two goals and two assists through seven games. Greg Moro has one goal and three assists through three games. Jake Kielly is 0-2 in the series with a .910 save percentage and a 3.47 goals against average.

Quinnipiac leads the all-time series, which first started with a 4-0 Clarkson win in Northford, CT on February 8, 2000, 15-10-3. The Bobcats are 3-1-1 in the last five meetings, including a 4-1 win in Hamden, CT on February 2. The teams split last season with each winning on the other's home ice. Quinnipiac has won its last two games at Cheel, including a 5-3 victory on November 4, 2016 in its last trip to Potsdam. The Bobcats are 7-5-1 at Cheel. The Knights' last win at home in the series was a 2-1 triumph on November 21, 2014.

Sheldon Rempal and Aaron Thow have both scored a goal and an assist against Quinnipiac for a team-high two points. Nic Pierog, Greg Moro and Kevin Charyszyn are the only other Knights who have scored a goal in the series. Jake Kielly is 1-1 against Quinnipiac with a .907 save percentage and a 2.54 goals against average.
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Players Mentioned

Troy Josephs

#16 Troy Josephs

F
6' 0"
Sophomore
Terrance Amorosa

#44 Terrance Amorosa

D
6' 2"
Senior
Ben Dalpe

#9 Ben Dalpe

F
5' 9"
Senior
Dylan Gareau

#15 Dylan Gareau

F
6' 0"
Senior
Brett Gervais

#19 Brett Gervais

F
5' 10"
Senior
Tyko Karjalainen

#4 Tyko Karjalainen

D
6' 0"
Senior
Jake Kielly

#29 Jake Kielly

G
6' 2"
Sophomore
Greg Moro

#3 Greg Moro

D
6' 4"
Sophomore
Nic Pierog

#6 Nic Pierog

F
6' 1"
Senior
Sheldon Rempal

#11 Sheldon Rempal

F
5' 10"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Troy Josephs

#16 Troy Josephs

6' 0"
Sophomore
F
Terrance Amorosa

#44 Terrance Amorosa

6' 2"
Senior
D
Ben Dalpe

#9 Ben Dalpe

5' 9"
Senior
F
Dylan Gareau

#15 Dylan Gareau

6' 0"
Senior
F
Brett Gervais

#19 Brett Gervais

5' 10"
Senior
F
Tyko Karjalainen

#4 Tyko Karjalainen

6' 0"
Senior
D
Jake Kielly

#29 Jake Kielly

6' 2"
Sophomore
G
Greg Moro

#3 Greg Moro

6' 4"
Sophomore
D
Nic Pierog

#6 Nic Pierog

6' 1"
Senior
F
Sheldon Rempal

#11 Sheldon Rempal

5' 10"
Sophomore
F