Skip To Main Content

Scoreboard

Clarkson University Athletics

vsSYR19

Third-Ranked Knights Make Long Road Trip to UMD

10/2/2019 2:33:00 PM

After sweeping College Hockey America foe Syracuse University in a season-opening home-and-home weekend series, Clarkson University, ranked third in the national polls, takes to the road for its longest trip of the year. The Golden Knights, guided by 12th-year head coach Matt Desrosiers and assistants Britni Smith and Tony Maci, will travel out to the Midwest to battle WCHA power, 10th-ranked Minnesota Duluth in a two-game series at Amsoil Arena. The Knights and Bulldogs will face off on Friday at 7:07 p.m. CST and again on Saturday at 3:07 p.m. CST.

Clarkson, which boasted the third-best offense in the country last year averaging 3.58 goals per game, showed no signs of slowing down this season despite the graduation loss of 2019 Patty Kazmaier Memorial Award winner Loren Gabel.  The Knights combined for nine goals on the opening weekend, defeating Syracuse 4-3 in Central, NY on Friday and 5-1 in their home opener at Cheel Arena on Saturday.

Clarkson at UMD weekend release  
USCHO.com Poll

Senior transfer Kayla Friesen and junior Elizabeth Giguere paced the attack against Syracuse with five and four points, respectively. Named ECAC Hockey Player of the Week, Friesen scored two goals in each win, along with one assist. The Green and Gold's top point producer from last year, Giguere tallied two goals and two assists and now has 148 career points (55-93) through just 83 games. Freshman Gabrielle David also made a big impression in her collegiate debut, recording a pair of assists in both games.

Sophomore Marie-Pier Coulombe and junior transfer Amanda Zeglen shared the goaltending duties over the weekend. Coulombe made 29 saves in Friday's victory on the road, while Zeglen turned aside 23 of 24 shots in Saturday's win to earn ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week honors.

The Series:
Clarkson and Minnesota Duluth have only faced off twice in their respective history, with both games coming last season at Cheel Arena. The Golden Knights took both games by the score of 4-1 and 4-2. 2019 Patty Kazmaier winner Loren Gabel was the star of the show for Clarkson scoring all four goals against the Bulldogs during the first game and adding two assists the following night. Not far behind Gabel were linemates Michaela Pejzlova and Elizabeth Giguere who had big weekends as well. Pejzlova scored two goals and tallied three assists while Giguere put up six assists on the weekend. St. Cloud St. transfer Kayla Friesen is familiar with the Bulldogs after playing them 15 times in three years, scoring one goal and six assists in those games. Although she played in the same conference as Minnesota Duluth, transfer Amanda Zegler never played against the Bulldogs during her time at Ohio State.  

Scouting Minnesota Duluth
Last year's Minnesota Duluth team fell short of the lofty expectations the program sets every season going 15-16-4 overall and 9-11-4 in conference play. A big reason for this was the influx of young players the Bulldogs had.  The Bulldogs were led by Gabbie Hughes who scored a team-leading 37 points on 19 goals and 18 assists in her freshman campaign. Classmate Anneke Linser was second on the team with 24 points on 10 goals and 14 assists. Minnesota Duluth's success this season will likely fall onto the capable shoulders of 2018 Olympic Gold Medalist goaltender Maddie Rooney. Despite having a young team in front of her, Rooney posted a .919 goals against average and a 2.81 goals against average. Rooney finished last season with a 12-15-4 record in 31 games. The games against the Golden Knights will be the team's season opener. While other teams around the country were starting their regular season slate, the Bulldogs took on the Minnesota Whitecaps of the NWHL from AMSOIL Arena. Minnesota Duluth fought to a 2-2 tie with the Whitecaps in their preseason tune up. 
 
Print Friendly Version