A pair of freshmen provided timely goals and rookie goaltender Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) was strong again in goal with a 24-save effort, including 11 in the final frame, as Clarkson University defeated Brown University 3-1 in the ECAC Hockey opener for both teams before 2,845 fans at Cheel Arena on Friday night.
Clarkson, which improved its record to 2-1-2 overall, will host Yale on Saturday at 7:00 p.m., while Brown, which falls to 0-3-0, plays an afternoon game at St. Lawrence on Saturday beginning at 4:00 p.m.
Freshmen Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) and Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) connected for their first collegiate goals, and sophomore Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) added an empty-net tally with 3.9 seconds remaining as the 15th-ranked Golden Knights extended their regular-season unbeaten streak against ECAC Hockey foes at Cheel Arena to 21-straight games (16-0-5).
“I give Brown a lot of credit,” stated Clarkson head coach George Roll. “I thought they played a very hard game. They clogged the middle of the ice and did a real good job defensively against us. I am glad we grinded out the win, but I thought we were way to individualistic tonight, and that was frustrating. If we played that way, we are not very good. Mentally we were not ready. I thought Paul was excellent again in net tonight. He gave us a chance to hold on and win the game.”
Oakley gave Clarkson the early lead, scoring just 2:37 after the opening faceoff. After junior center Tim Marks (Brownville, NY) delivered a big hit behind the net to free up the puck, freshman Julien Cayer (Lonqueuil, QUE) fed Oakley with a pass in front where the left wing snapped off a quick shot for his first goal as a Golden Knight.
The Bears tied it late in the period when senior defenseman Mike Stuart picked up a loose puck in the Brown zone during a penalty kill and skated in on a breakaway. Karpowich made the initial save on the attempt in front, but Stuart was able to gather in the rebound and lifted in a shot over Karpwoich’s shoulder for a shorthanded marker at 18:25.
Early in the third period, Tremblay put the Green and Gold on top 2-1 when he tipped in a shot by sophomore defenseman Dan Reed (Walworth, NY) at 3:18. Sophomore Lauri Tuohimaa (Helsinki, Finland) also assisted on the game-winner.
The Bears pulled junior goaltender Dan Rosen for the extra attacker with 46 second left in regulation, but the Knights held off the Brown attacked and iced their sixth straight win over the Bears with DeFazio’s goal into the empty net.
Clarkson held a slim 27-25 shot advantage. The Knights struggled on the power play, going 0-for-10 with just three shots on goal with the man advantage. Brown was 0-for-8 on the power play.
