Potsdam, NY – The Clarkson University Hockey team's bid for a weekend sweep came up short on Saturday night as Rensselaer edged the Golden Knights 4-3 before 2,376 fans at Cheel Arena. Clarkson, which shut out Union 2-0 on Friday, falls to 7-15-2 overall and to 11th place in the Eastern College Athletic Conference Hockey League (ECACHL) with a 3-8-1 conference mark.
The Knights took the early lead to start the first with a power-play goal at 11:04. Sophomore defenseman Michael Grenzy (Lockport, NY) scored on a slap shot from the left circle for his third goal of the season off assists from senior Jay Latulippe (Saratoga Springs, NY) and Chris Blight (Cambridge, ONT). Rensselaer pressured in the latter stages of the first and tied it with Vic Pereira’s fourth goal of the year with 1:54 remaining in the opening frame. While both teams were skating four aside, Pereira picked up a loose puck at the bottom of the right circle and fired in a quick shot that deflected in off Clarkson’s junior goaltender Dustin Traylen’s (Kirkland, QUE) skate just inside the near post.
Clarkson went on top 2-1 early in the second when Latulippe took a drop pass from sophomore Mike Sullivan (Stouffville, ONT) and wristed in a shot from the slot just under the crossbar for his 10th goal of the season, a power-play marker at 4:35. Blight recorded his team-high 16th assist on the goal.
The Engineers began to take control later in the stanza and tied it 2-2 at 6:23. Kirk MacDonald tipped in a shot from the point while on the power play for his team-high 12th goal. With just 34 seconds to go in the second, Rensselaer took the lead for the first time with a shorthanded goal on a quick shot from the right circle by Nick Economakos to hold a 3-2 advantage trough 40 minutes.
At 10:05 of the third, Rensselaer grabbed a two-goal lead when Pereira set up the Engineers’ fourth goal with a behind-the-net pass out in front to Cody Wojdyla.
Clarkson made it a one-goal game with 2:30 left in regulation. With Traylen pulled for the extra attacker and the Knights on the power play, junior Jeff Genovy (Kalamazoo, MI) scored with a shot that deflected in from the top of the crease for his second goal of the season. Latulippe and Grenzy assisted. The Knights’ bid to tie the game was hindered in the final minutes when Traylen was called for a roughing penalty at 18:13, putting the Engineers on their seventh power play to close out the contest.
Rensselaer out shot the Knights 34-23. Traylen finished with 30 saves. Clarkson was 3-of-7 on the power play, while Rensselaer was 1-of-7 with the man advantage.
