Another balanced scoring effort and the continued solid play in goal by sophomore Dustin Traylen (Kirkland, QUE) lead the Clarkson University Hockey team to a 5-2 victory over Union College Saturday and a sweep over the Dutchmen in the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) playoffs in Schenectady, NY. The Golden Knights, who own a 15-16-5 record, will now move on to the quarterfinal round to battle defending ECAC champion Cornell University in the best-of-three game series in Ithaca, NY beginning this Friday at 7:00 p.m.
In Saturday’s win over Union, five different Knights scored goals and Traylen posted 26 saves, including 13 in the third period as the Green and Gold won for the fourth time over their past five games.
Clarkson jumped out to a 3-0 first-period lead on goals by juniors Mac Faulkner (King City, ONT) and Chris Blight (Cambridge, MA) and senior co-captain Tristan Lush (North Andover, MA). The Knights’ leading scorer, Faulkner tallied his 14th goal of the season on a quick turn around shot from the bottom of the right circle at 3:33. Blight followed with his team-high 17th goal of the year when he one-time a shot from the point for a power-play goal at 7:20. Lush completed the Knights’ first-period outburst by finishing off a 2-on-1 from classmate Jean Desrochers (Dalhousie, QUE) at 14:15.
After a scoreless second period, the Dutchmen made the game close in the third by trading two goals apiece with Clarkson. Union scored its first goal just 44 seconds in. Sophomore Chris Brekelmans (London, ONT) tallied on the power play when his shot from the point deflect in off a Dutchmen defender in front at 8:30. Union scored again at 13:54, but just 62 seconds later, junior Jay Latulippe (Saratoga Springs, NY) sealed the Clarkson win with his second goal of the weekend and 13th of the year.
The Knights were solid on the power play, going 2-of-8 with the man-advantage, while killing off all nine Dutchmen power plays.
The other ECAC Quarterfinal series are St. Lawrence at #1 Colgate. Harvard at #3 Brown and Rensselaer at #4 Dartmouth.
