Third-period rallies by the opponents have been the downfall for the Clarkson University Hockey team in too many games this season, but Sunday evening in the consolation game of the Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Pot, the Golden Knights rallied to gain a 3-3 overtime tie against Harvard. In First round action on Saturday, Providence outscored the Green and Gold 3-1 over the final 20 minutes to earn a 4-3 victory. Clarkson, which stands at 6-7-4 overall, closes out the non-league portion of its regular–season schedule when it hosts Mercyhurst College in a two-game series at Cheel Arena this coming weekend.
“Although it is not a win, I am very proud of our effort tonight,” stated Clarkson head coach George Roll about the consolation game against Harvard. “We really went at them and played hard. I thought the third period was our best period of the weekend. We created a lot of chances. Although it is a tie, where we are at right now, and where Harvard is at, we will take it. It is tough in a consolation game to bounce back with a strong effort and I give our guys a lot of credit for their work tonight.”
Sophomore John Sullivan (New Bedford, NH) tallied his second goal of the weekend and his fourth of the season when he tucked in a shot that just crossed over the goal line at 13:41 of the third period to give Clarkson the 3-3 tie. Sophomore goaltender Dustin Traylen (Kirkland, QUE) was named Second Star of the contest after posting a 37-save effort, including 16 stops in the second period. Traylen’s biggest save of the night came with just over a minute remaining in the second period when he stopped Kevin Du on a shorthanded breakaway attempt with a sprawling glove save.
Clarkson’s top two offensive threats combined to opened the scoring early in the first period. Junior Chris Blight (Cambridge, ONT) one-timed a passed from classmate, center Mac Faulkner (King City, ONT) for his team-high 11th goal of the season, a power-play marker at 6:08. Faulkner, the Knights’ leading scorer, recorded his team-high 14th assist on the year. Freshman defenseman Nathan Beausoleil (Moose Creek, ONT) also assisted
Harvard came right back, however, with a pair of goals 94 seconds apart to take a 2-1 lead into the first intermission.
Junior Jay Latulippe (Saratoga Springs, NY) evened the score at 16:02 on a strong move down low for his second goal of the weekend and fourth of the season. John Sullivan assisted.
At 1:50 of the third period, Harvard’s Tom Cavanagh tallied an unassisted shorthanded goal, lifting in a loose puck while Traylen was knocked down and covered in the crease by a back checking Clarkson forward, to give the Crimson a 3-2 lead.
Harvard outshot Clarkson 40-31, but the Knights held a 17-13 advantage over the final 25 minutes. The Knights went 1-of-6 on the power play, while Harvard was just 1-of-2 with both man-advantage opportunities coming in the first period.
