Freshman goaltender Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) recorded his first career shutout with a 27-save effort as the Clarkson University Hockey team battled to a scoreless overtime tie with fourth-ranked Cornell in ECAC Hockey action before 3,029 fans at Cheel Arena on Saturday night.
The Golden Knights out shot the Big Red 34-27, but Cornell’s junior goaltender Ben Scrivens turned aside all of Clarkson’s shots to post his sixth shutout this season and 11th career whitewash.
Clarkson, which holds a 7-14-5 overall record and a 5-7-2 ECAC Hockey mark, battles arch-rival St. Lawrence in a home-and-home series this coming weekend. The Knights play the Saints in Canton on Friday and then host their North County foe on Saturday in Potsdam.
“I thought we played awfully well tonight,” stated Clarkson head coach George Roll. “Obviously either team could have won it, but I thought we deserved a better fate. We had some great chances. We really went to the net hard, were gritty down low and generated chances. Their guy was really strong in goal, as was Paul. I thought it was a great college hockey game. I am really proud of our effort. We grew as a team tonight against a very good club in Cornell.”
The Knights came out with a strong first-period effort, out-hitting and out-shooting the league-leading Big Red (14-2-4, 9-1-2), but despite a 12-6 shot advantage in the opening 20 minutes Clarkson had nothing to show for its effort. One of the Knights’ best offensive opportunities came on a 2-on-1 break late in the stanza, but sophomore Bryan Rufenach’s (Cameron, ONT) shot from the top of the crease was smothered by Scrivens.
Cornell, benefiting from two power plays in the second period, had the better of the play, out shooting the Golden Knights 12-5 in the middle frame, but was not able to capitalize on its chances.
Clarkson enjoyed its biggest offensive advantage in the third period, out shooting Cornell 15-5, but once again Scrivens came up with the big saves. Senior Chris D’Alvise (Mississauga, ONT) came close to ending the game with a hard shot from between the circles with 8.8 seconds left in regulation, but Scrivens was able to keep it out of the net.
In the five-minute sudden-victory overtime, Karpowich retained his top form with four saves, including three consecutive stops on Cornell’s Joe Devin, Keir Ross and Justin Krueger during a Big Red flurry in front with 21.9 seconds remaining. Scrivens made two saves in overtime.
Cornell was 0-of-3 on the power play, while the Knights were scoreless in two man-advantage opportunities.
