Junior Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) posted 35 saves and the Golden Knights received another balanced effort offensively with three different goal scorers as the Clarkson University Hockey team snapped a three-game winless stretch (0-2-1) with a 3-1 victory over Harvard before 2,129 fans at Cheel Arena in ECAC Hockey action Saturday night.
Freshman Allan McPherson (Kinburn, ONT), sophomore defenseman Nik Pokulok (Vaudreuil-Dorion, QUE) and senior Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) scored for Clarkson, which improved its record to 5-4-2 overall and 1-2-1 in ECAC play.
Audio Head Coach George Roll Postgame
Harvard (2-2, 2-2), which saw its winning streak end at two games, came out strong to start the first period, out shooting the Knights 12-6, but could not get the first goal past Karpowich in a scoreless first period.
Clarkson was the dominant team in the second period, with a 19-11 shot advantage, and finally broke the deadlock with a pair of goals less than three minutes apart late in the stanza.
McPherson scored the game’s first goal at 14:45 of the second when he tipped in a shot from the right point by junior Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) for his second collegiate goal. Junior assistant captain Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY) also set up the goal with hard work along the boards.
Audio McPherson Goal
At 17:40, Pokulok put in his first career goal, connecting on a rising shot from the top of the left circle. McPherson and freshman Matt Zarbo (Grand Island, NY) earned the assists as the Green and Gold took a 2-0 lead through 40 minutes.
Audio Pokulok Goal
The Crimson made things interesting in the final frame when Michael Biega put the visitors on the scoreboard with his first goal of the season at 6:30.
Clarkson, however, regained its two-goal cushion when Freeman knocked in a loose puck into an empty net with 5:05 remaining. Junior Corey Tamblyn (Bobcaygeon, ONT) used a burst of speed into the Harvard end to beat Crimson goaltender Kyle Richter to the puck at the side of the net and sent a pass in front where Freeman pushed in his third goal of the year. Senior assistant captain Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) started the play with the long pass into the Harvard zone.
Audio Freeman Goal
With less than two minutes to play, the Crimson went on their fifth power play of the game, and pulled Richter for a 6-on-4 advantage, but the Knights’ penalty kill, headed up by Karpowich, denied Harvard any more goals.
Harvard, which went scoreless in five power-play opportunities, held a 36-35 advantage in shots. Clarkson was 0-of-2 on the power play.
The Knights, close out a lengthy home stand at Cheel Arena next Saturday when they host archrival St. Lawrence University at 7:00 p.m.
