Skip To Main Content

Scoreboard

Clarkson University Athletics

Knights Open ECAC Play Hosting Capital District Rivals

By: November 3, 2015
GoalMcGill15
The Knights are ranked 17th in the nation and own a 4-0 record at Cheel Arena entering this weekend's ECAC Hockey games vs RPI and Union - photo by Mike Tansey

Men's Hockey | 11/3/2015 9:12:00 AM

PDF of weekly release

Off to its best start in 24 years with a 5-1 overall record the Clarkson University Hockey team will look to continue its winning ways as it opens its 55th campaign of ECAC Hockey. Guided by fifth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistant Phil Roy '00 and Josh Hauge, the Golden Knights will host Capital District rivals Rensselaer and Union College this weekend in a pair of 7:00 p.m. games at Cheel Arena.  Clarkson, which was idle last week, skated to a sweep of NCHC foe Western Michigan (4-2, 6-2) in Potsdam in its last action on October 23-24.

Can't make it to the game? Follow the Golden Knights over the Internet at
Clarkson Hockey Broadcast Centralor Clarkson Athletics on your mobile device
with live video, internet radio broadcast and live in-game scoring.

•    Ranked 17th in the latest USCHO.com Poll, Clarkson has outscored its opponents 25-15 en route to the 5-1 record, its best start since opening 10-1 in 1991-92. The last time the Green and Gold began ECAC Hockey play with a four-point weekend was in 2007-08 when they defeated Harvard (2-1) and Dartmouth (4-3) at Cheel Arena.
       
       USCHO.com Poll
       USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll

•    In the rivalry against Rensselaer, which began during the 1924-25 campaign, Clarkson leads the series 87-50-10. The Knights took three-of-four points against the Engineers in the 2014-15 regular season, but RPI won the ECAC Hockey first-round series in Potsdam 2-1 on March 6-8. Clarkson holds a 16-11-3 record over the Engineers at Cheel Arena. 
•    The Knights lead the all-time series against Union, 28-24-5, but the Dutchmen have owned the play in recent years, winning the last five meetings and nine of the last 10 games. Last February, Union defeated the Green and Gold 4-1 in Potsdam and 3-2 in Schenectady. Clarkson's last win in the series was a 2-1 triumph in Potsdam on February 8, 2013. The Knights are 15-8-1 over Union at Cheel Arena.
•    Clarkson has been perfect at home this season with a 4-0 mark at Cheel, outscoring the opponents 20-5 on its home ice. The Knights were just 7-11-1 in Potsdam last year. In its 25th season at Cheel Arena, Clarkson holds a 267-133-44 record in the 3,000-seat arena. 
•    Senior defenseman Paul Geiger (Stouffville, ONT) is in his second year as the Golden Knights' captain. Classmates Jeff DiNallo (Aurora, ONT) and Pat Megannety (Oakville, ONT), and junior James de Haas (Mississauga, ONT) serve as assistant captains.
•    Clarkson's offense is ranked 11th in Division I, averaging 4.17 goals per game. The Knights have scored four-or-more goals in each of their five wins and have had a pair of six-goal outings. Last season, Clarkson scored just 81 goals through 37 games (2.19 GPG). 
•    The Knights' power play is clicking at 34.6% (9-26), fourth in the NCAA. Clarkson scored only 17 goals on the man-advantage through 37 games last season (17-114, 14.9%).
•    Junior A.J. Fossen (Maple grove, MN) leads the country in power-play goals with five, equalling last year's team-high by Kelly Summers (Golden Lake, ONT).  Fossen,  who closed out the 2014-15 campaign with four goals and five assists over the last seven games, has carried his strong play over to the start of his junior season. He is averaging over a point per game (1.17) on five goals and two assists.  He has 34 points (14-20) through 77 career games.
•    Junior Jordon Boucher (St. Therese, QUE) has tallied a team-high eight points (3-5). He has at least one point in five of the first six games.
•    Sophomore Sam Vigneault Baie-Comeau, QUE) is tied for third in the country in game-winning goals (2) and tied for 10th in power-play markers (2). Vigneault is one of three Knights with seven points (2-5) on the year.
•    James de Haas powers the Clarkson offense from the blueline with one goal and a team-high six assists. He is tied for fifth in Division I for points per game (1.17) among
defenseman, and is tied for 12th in assists per game (1.00).
•    Clarkson's blueline brigade has accounted for 28% of the Knights' offense with four goals and 15 assists.
•    Fifteen players have accounted for Clarkson's 25 goals. Eigthteen Knights have recorded at least one point.
•    Pat Megannety enjoyed a big weekend in the sweep of Western Michigan with two goals and two assists. He tallied a power-play marker and set up two goals in the 6-4 win.
•    Freshman Marly Quince (Sioux Lookout, ONT) scored his first collegiate goal in the 6-2 win over Western Michigan. He has skated in all six games at center and posts a +4 plus/minus rating and seven blocked shots.
•    Sophomore Brett Gervais (Corona, CA) holds a team-best +5, has taken the most draws for the Knights at the faceoff circle (46-51, 47.4%) and has tallied one goal and four assists.
•    Senior defenseman Kevin Tansey (Hammond, ONT) leads Clarkson in blocked shots with nine to go along with a +4 rating and one goal.

Scouting Rensselaer
Rensselaer, under 10th-year head coach Seth Appert, owns a 3-4 overall record and opened conference action this past weekend with a sweep of Union. The Engineers jumped out to a 4-0 first-period lead en route to a convincing 5-1 win over the Dutchmen at Achilles Center on Friday and then held off their neighbors for a 3-2 victory at Houston Field House on Saturday.  RPI also posted a big victory, 2-1, over then ranked #1 Boston College on October 11 in Troy. Prior to the weekend sweep of Union, the Engineers had lost three straight, dropping two at the Alaska Goal Rush Tournament, falling to Alaska-Anchorage (4-3) and Alaska (4-2). RPI also lost at home to Michigan (5-2) during that skid. The Enginners opend the 2015-16 season with a 3-0 loss at UMass-Lowell on October 9. The Engineers are 1-3 away from Houston Field House this season. RPI has been outscored 20-17 through its first seven games.
Freshman Evan Tironese leads the Engineers with seven points (1-6), while Riley Bourbonnais has tallied a team-high four goals. Jason Kasdorf posts a .922 save percentage and a 2.60 GAA starting all seven games in the RPI goal.

Scouting Union
National Champions in 2014, Union heads to the North Country on a three-game losing skid. The Dutchmen, who play at St. Lawrence on Friday, hold a 2-3-3 overall record and a 0-2 ECAC Hockey mark. Union suffered its second consecutive regular-season sweep to Rensselaer with the two losses (5-1, 3-2) to its Capital District neighbor over the weekend. The Dutchmen, guided by fourth-year head coach Rick Bennett, were unbeaten (2-0-3) to start the season with wins in Schenectady over Boston University (5-3) and Maine (2-0) and a tie at home against Michigan (5-5). Union has been outscored 23-19 and is 0-1 in road games.
Michael Pontarelli (2-3) and Noah Henry (0-5) lead the Dutchmen offensively with five point each. Alex Sakellaropoulos has started six games in the Union crease and posts a .906 save percentage and a 2.91 GAA en route to a 1-2-3 record. Jake Kupsky has played in three games with a .902 save percentage, a 2.20 GAA and a 1-1 record with one shutout.

The Series:
In a heated rivalry which dates back to the 1924-25 campaign, Clarkson leads the overall series against Rensselaer 87-50-10. The Knights took three of four league points from RPI last year during the regular season, including a 5-2 win at Cheel on February 7. The Green and Gold also earned a come-from-behind 3-3 tie in Troy on February 27, which clinched eighth place for Clarkson. The Engineers, however, prevailed over Clarkson the following weekend in the opening round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs, defeating the Green and Gold 2-1 (3-2, 0-5, 5-1) in the best-of-two game series on March 6-8 in Potsdam. Clarkson is 16-11-3 all-time against the Engineers at Cheel Arena.
A.J. Fossen has recorded a team-high seven points in the series against RPI with two goals and five assists. Jeff DiNallo has six points, including a team-high three goals against the Engineers. Pat Megannety and Kevin Tansey have tallied two goals in the series. Steve Perry has four games in goal against RPI and holds a .900 save percentage, a 2.24 goals against average and 2-1 record, including two shutouts in the series. Greg Lewis has played seven games and posts a .866 save percentage and a 3.16 GAA en route to a 1-3-2 record against RPI. 

The Knights hold a 28-24-5 advantage in their all-time series against Union. The Dutchmen, however, are 21-14-3 against Clarkson in games played during the 2000s, including a 9-1 mark in the last 10 meetings. Union defeated Clarkson 3-2 in Schenectady on February 6 to extend its winning streak in the series to five games. The Knights' last win over the Dutchmen was a 2-1 triumph in Potsdam on February 8, 2013. Clarkson is 15-8-1 over Union at Cheel.
Jeff DiNallo, with one goal and two assists, leads the Knights in scoring against the Dutchmen. Defensemen Paul Geiger, Kevin Tansey and Kelly Summers are the only other current Knights to have scored a goal in the series. Through five games against Union, Greg Lewis holds a .918 save percentage and a 3.01 goals against average en route to a 1-3 record. Steve Perry has a .830 save percentage and a 4.54 record in two losses.
Print Friendly Version

Players Mentioned

James de Haas

#2 James de Haas

D
6' 3"
Junior
Jeff DiNallo

#29 Jeff DiNallo

F
5' 7"
Senior
A.J. Fossen

#26 A.J. Fossen

F
5' 9"
Junior
Paul Geiger

#3 Paul Geiger

D
6' 3"
Senior
Brett Gervais

#19 Brett Gervais

F
5' 10"
Sophomore
Greg Lewis

#33 Greg Lewis

G
6' 1"
Senior
Pat Megannety

#32 Pat Megannety

F
5' 11"
Senior
Steve Perry

#1 Steve Perry

G
5' 10"
Junior
Kelly Summers

#5 Kelly Summers

D
6' 1"
Sophomore
Kevin Tansey

#10 Kevin Tansey

D
6' 4"
Senior

Players Mentioned

James de Haas

#2 James de Haas

6' 3"
Junior
D
Jeff DiNallo

#29 Jeff DiNallo

5' 7"
Senior
F
A.J. Fossen

#26 A.J. Fossen

5' 9"
Junior
F
Paul Geiger

#3 Paul Geiger

6' 3"
Senior
D
Brett Gervais

#19 Brett Gervais

5' 10"
Sophomore
F
Greg Lewis

#33 Greg Lewis

6' 1"
Senior
G
Pat Megannety

#32 Pat Megannety

5' 11"
Senior
F
Steve Perry

#1 Steve Perry

5' 10"
Junior
G
Kelly Summers

#5 Kelly Summers

6' 1"
Sophomore
D
Kevin Tansey

#10 Kevin Tansey

6' 4"
Senior
D