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ECAC Hockey play returns in full force for the Clarkson University Hockey team as all the remaining 14 regular season games involve league competition. The Golden Knights, guided by seventh-year head coach George Roll and associate coach Greg Drechsel, host Central New York rivals Cornell and Colgate Universities this weekend at Cheel Arena in their first conference action since the first weekend in December. Both games are slated for 7:00 p.m. faceoffs.

The Green and Gold own a 5-12-3 overall record and are tied for 11th in the league standings with a 1-5-2 ECAC Hockey mark. 

On Saturday, Clarkson again found itself in a hole, trailing 2-0 after 40 minutes, but once again staged an impressive comeback to take a 3-2 lead late in the third. A power-play, extra attacker goal by UAH with 29 seconds left in regulation spoiled the Knights’ bid for the weekend sweep as the teams settled for a 3-3 overtime tie.

The Green and Gold leaders came to the forefront in the series against UAH. Junior captain Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) recorded four points (1-3) against the Chargers and figured in on all of the scoring on Saturday with one goal and two assists. Beca netted a goal in each game and also set up one goal. Junior assistant captain Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) notched an assist on Friday and tallied a power-play marker on Saturday.

Beca leads the Knights offensively with 21 points, including a team-high 11 goals. He has 106 career points (42-64) through 132 games. Freeman follows with 20 points, including a team-leading 15 assists. DeFazio is tied for fourth in scoring at Clarkson with 14 points (6-8) and powers the Knights’ power play with a team-best four man-advantage markers.

Ranked 8th/9th in the latest national polls, Cornell has not played since January 3 when it skated to a convincing 5-2 victory at the University of New Hampshire. Guided by 15th-year head coach Mike Schafer, and associate coach Casey Jones (1993-95), a former Clarkson assistant, the Big Red own an 8-4-2 overall record and are in third place in ECAC Hockey with a 6-2-1 league mark. The win over UNH to open the new year snapped a three-game winless stretch (0-2-1) for Cornell. In its last league action, the Big Red gained a 2-2 tie at Union on December 5. Cornell is 3-1-1 on opponents’ home ice.

Colgate, which plays at St. Lawrence on Friday, enters the North Country looking to break out of a three-game losing skid. The Raiders, guided by 17th-year head coach Don Vaughan and former Golden Knight assistant coach Brad Dexter (2001-2002), own a 7-8-4 overall record and entered the weekend holding down fifth place in the league standings with a 5-3-1 conference mark. In its last action, Colgate dropped a pair of 5-2 games at the Shillelagh Tournament in Illinois, falling to Notre Dame and Niagara on January 2-3. The Raiders’ last win was a 5-3 triumph at Rensselaer on December 5. Colgate is 2-4-2 in away games.

The Series:
The lone ECAC Hockey team to hold an advantage over Clarkson in its all-time series, Cornell is the Knights’ oldest current rival having first played during the 1922-23 campaign with the teams battling to a 0-0 tie in Ithaca. The Big Red leads the rivalry against the Knights 52-49-12. Cornell snapped out of a three-game winless stretch (0-2-1) against the Green and Gold last season with a 4-1 win in Ithaca on December 5, 2008. The Knights and Big Red also skated to a 0-0 tie in Potsdam on January 31. Clarkson took two from the Big Red during the 2007-08 campaign, winning 4-2 at Lynah Rink (1/20/08) and 4-1 at Cheel Arena (2/8/08), for its first conference sweep in the rivalry since the 1998-99 campaign. The Knights and Cornell also skated to a 3-3 non-league draw in Florida (12/29/07) that season. The Big Red’s last win in Potsdam was a 3-0 victory on February 26, 2005.

The Knights are 10-5-5 against Cornell all-time at Cheel Arena. Matt Beca is Clarkson’s leading scorer against Cornell with three points, including two goals through seven games. Paul Karpowich has played two games against the Big Red, posting a .911 save percentage, a 1.93 goals against average and a 0-1-1 record. George Roll is 5-11-4 against Cornell, while the Big Red’s Mike Schafer owns a 24-12-4 record against the Knights.

Clarkson leads the Raiders in their all-time series, which began during the 1927-28 campaign, 80-42-14. Colgate, however, is unbeaten against the Green and Gold over the last four meetings (3-0-1). The Raiders took three of four points from the Knights last season with a 3-3 tie in Hamilton (12/6/08) and a 3-1 win in Potsdam (1/30/09). The two New York State rivals have battled to five ties over the past seven regular-season meetings. Clarkson’s last win in the series was a 1-0 triumph in Game 1 of the ECAC Hockey quarterfinal series at Cheel Arena on March 14, 2008.

Colgate has won more games at Cheel than any other Clarkson opponent with a 8-9-6 record at the 19-year-old arena. Matt Beca paces the Knights’ offense against the Raiders with six points (0-6) through nine games. Paul Karpowich and Richie LaVeau have both started one game in goal against the Raiders. Karpowich is 0-0-1 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.77 GAA. LaVeau is 0-1-0 with a .913 Save% and a 2.03 GAA. George Roll is 5-5-6 against Colgate, while Raiders’ head coach Don Vaughan is 12-19-9 in the series.

Knight Notes:
Clarkson went 4-7-1 in non-league games this season … After the Cornell-Colgate series, the Knights close out the current six-game home stand by hosting Yale and Brown on January 22-23. Clarkson than takes to road for four straight, beginning with a rematch against Colgate and Cornell on the road on January 29-30 … Making his home debut at Cheel Arena, Clarkson newcomer Markus Piispanen started the Knights’ rally in Friday’s 3-1 victory over Alabama-Huntsville by scoring on the power play for his first collegiate point. The freshman forward was playing in his third NCAA game after coming to Clarkson from Finland to start the New Year … The Knights’ leading scorer with 21 points, including a team-high 11 goals, Matt Beca has scored a goal in each of the past three games and has 14 points (5-9) over the past nine contests. He has 106 career points (42-64) through 132 games … Clarkson’s captain, Scott Freeman has a team-high 15 assists, and has recorded five points (2-3) over the past three games, including four (1-3) this past weekend against UAH. He is second on the team in scoring with 20 points … The Knights’ leading scorer before missing four games with an injury, sophomore Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) is back near top form and has recorded three assists over the past four games since returning to the lineup at the start of New Year … Brandon DeFazio leads the Knights in power-play goals with four, and is tied for fourth in points with 14 (6-8) … Junior defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) set up two goals in Friday’s win over UAH and leads the scoring from the Knights’ blueline with six goals and eight assists … Nick Tremblay has broken out of a 10-game pointless stretch with one goal and three assists over the past three games. His second goal of the season was the game-winner in the 3-1 victory over UAH … Lauri Tuohimaa (Helsinki, Finland) recorded his first point in 10 games when he helped to set up Clarkson’s first goal in Saturday’s 3-3 tie … Freshman defenseman Andrew Himelson (Monroe, NY) recorded his fourth assist of the season in Friday’s win, but left the ice early in Saturday’s game after suffering an injury. He is expected to be out of the lineup for several weeks … Paul Karpowich started both games in goal over the weekend and has started 15 for the season. He posts a .894 save percentage, a 3.40 goals against average and a 4-8-3 record … Clarkson put a season-high 47 shots on goal in Saturday’s game.