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Men's Hockey October 14, 2014

Clarkson Battles UVM in Home-and-Home Series

Senior Joe Zarbo leads the Knights in scoring with four points, including three assists, entering the weekend series vs. UVM - photo by Gary Mikel
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Behind two solid defensive efforts on the road, the Clarkson University Hockey team skated to a pair of back-to-back 3-1 wins in Western New York over the weekend for a successful opening to the 2014-15 campaign. Guided by fourth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistant Phil Roy '00 and Andy Jones, the Golden Knights will look to continue their strong play when they battle the University of Vermont in a home-and-home series this weekend. 

The Knights close out a three-game road trip when they battle the Catamounts in Burlington on Friday at 7:05 p.m. and then open up the home portion of the schedule on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. when they hosts the Cats at Cheel Arena.
 
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The Green and Gold, rallied from a 1-0 deficit early in the second period on Friday to gain their third consecutive victory over the Purple Eagles at Dwyer Arena. Senior Joe Zarbo (Grand Island, NY), freshman Sam Vigneault (Baie-Comeau, QUE) and sophomore defenseman James de Haas (Mississauga, ONT) scored the goals, while sophomore goaltender Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA) made 12 saves. 

On Saturday, Clarkson became the first opponent to earn a victory at the brand new Gene Polisseni Center in Rochester with the hard-fought win over RIT.

Junior Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT), sophomore Jordan Boucher (St. Therese, QUE) and freshman Nic Pierog (Georgetown, ONT) scored and Perry had 20 saves as the Knights extended their unbeaten streak over RIT to 11 games (9-0-2).

The Catamounts return four of the top five scorers, including 2014 HEA Rookie of the Year, forward Mario Puskarich, and both goaltenders (Brody Hoffman and Mike Santaguida) from last year's team that posted a 20-15-3 record and made a return to the NCAA Tournament. 

Vermont was impressive in its season and Hockey East opener on Saturday with a 6-2 win at 16th-ranked Northeastern. Jonathan Turk scored a hat trick and added an assist, while Mike Paliotta enjoyed a four-point night (1-3) from the blueline. The Cats outshot the Huskies 37-24. Hoffman posted 22 saves.
 
•At 2-0 the Knights equal last year's start. Clarkson went 3-0 to open the 2006-07 campaign and last began a season at 4-0 in 1990-91.
•Friday's game will be the 81st meeting between Clarkson and Vermont with the Golden Knights holding a 52-26-2 series lead since the 1970-71season. UVM has won two straight in the series and is 3-1-1 over the last five games and 6-3-1 in the last 10.
•Last season, Clarkson was 1-5-1 against Hockey East teams.
•The Knights open a three-game home stand on Saturday, the first of 16 regular-season games at Cheel Arena.
•Steve Perry is one of 20 goalies named to the Mike Richter Award Watch List for 2014-15, which annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in NCAA Division I men's hockey.  He posts a .941 save percentage and a 1.00 GAA through the first two games. Perry was selected ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week after allowing just two goals over the weekend.
•Defense is projected to be Clarkson's strength this season, and the the Knights displayed a stingy effort in the opening weekend allowing an average of only 17 shots in the two games, while also killing off all six opponent power plays.
•Clarkson received a balanced scoring effort in the season-opening sweep with six different players scoring goals and 11 players reecording at least one point.
•The Knights started strong over the weekend, outshooting their opponents 22-9 in  the first period and finished stong by outscoring the opponents 3-0 over the final 20  minutes.
•Joe Zarbo recorded two points in both games over the weekend and leads the Knights in scoring with four points (1-3). He has 50 career points (23-27) through 160 games.
•The Knights' top returning scorer, Jeff DiNallo and Jordan Boucher both scored a goal against RIT and an assist at Niagara. 
•Defenseman James de Haas recorded a goal and an assist at Niagara for his fifth career two-point outing.
•Junior defenseman Paul Geiger, who served as an assistant captain late last  season, will serve as the Golden Knights captain in 2014-15. Senior defenseman James Howden and junior Jeff DiNallo will act as assistant captains.
•Clarkson has just two seniors, defenseman James Howden and forward Joe Zarbo on the roster. Eight juniors, eight sophomores and nine freshmen make up the remainder of the 2014-15 Golden Knight roster.
•Six freshmen skated in the opening weekend with forwards Janick Asselin, Brett Gervais and Nic Pierog, and defenseman Kelly Summers playing both games.  Sam Vigneault and Terrence Amorosa saw action in one game apiece.  Vigneault scored the game-winner at Niagara and Pierog tallied an empty-netter at  RIT.  Asselin recorded one assist.
•Four current Golden Knights have been selected in the NHL Draft – James de Haas (2012 Detroit - 6th rd, 170), Terrence Amorosa (2013 Philadelphia - 5th rd, 189), Troy Josephs (2013 Pittsburgh - 7th rd, 209) and Kelly Summers (2014 Ottawa - 7th rd, 189).
•Four former Knights were on NHL opening-day rosters – Mark Borowiecki '11 (Ottawa), Grant Clitsome '08 (Winnipeg), Erik Cole '00 (Dallas) and Willie Mitchell '99 (Florida) . Several former Clarkson standouts are on AHL/ECHL rosters.
•In its 93rd season, Clarkson boasts 70 winning campaigns and a 1,365-800-141 all-time record for a .623 winning percentage since 1920-21.
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