Knights Blanked by UVM

Brett Gervais sets up a screen in front of UVM's goaltender Mike Santaguida - photo by Mike Tansey

Box Score
A renewed rivalry with an old ECAC Hockey foe did not go as planned for the Clarkson University Hockey team over the weekend as the University of Vermont completed a two-game sweep of the Golden Knights with a 3-0 non-league victory before 2,650 fans at Cheel Arena on Saturday.

The Catamounts, who now play in Hockey East, stretch their current winning streak in the series to four games after their visit to Potsdam since November 13, 2004. Vermont defeated the Green and Gold 2-1 in Burlington on Friday night.

Clarkson, which stands at 2-2, hosts WCHA foe Bowling Green in a two-game series at Cheel next weekend.

Audio Head Coach Casey Jones postgame

The Catamounts (3-0) held the better of the play in the opening 20 minutes and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Mario Puskarich opened the scoring at 8:06, connecting on a wrist shot from the bottom of the right circle, beating Clarkson sophomore goaltender Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA) high on the stick side.

At 15:12 Kevin Irwin finished off a 2-on-1 with Colin Markison to give Vermont the two-goal lead heading into the first intermission.

Early in the middle frame, the Catamounts built their lead to 3-0. After Clarkson fired a shot high on an odd-man rush, Vermont picked up the rebound off the back glass and skated in on Perry with its own 2-on-1 opportunity. The Cats' leading scorer, defenseman Mike Paliotta knocked in a rebound off a shot by Puskarich into a wide open net at 3:17.

Both teams had substantial time with a two-man advantage later in the stanza, including a full two minute 5-on-3 power play for the Knights, but neither team could convert.

Thw Knights controlled the final 20 minutes and outshot Vermont 11-0 in the third, but could not get on the scoreboard.

Vermont's Mike Santaguida made 28 saves to hand Clarkson's its first shutout at Cheel since last February 14. Perry had 17 saves.

Clarkson was 0-of-7 on the power play, including three man-advantage opportunities in the third. UVM was 0-of-4 on the power play.

Audio Perry save

Print Friendly Version