After skating to its best campaign in 10 years last season, capped off by a return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2008, the Clarkson University Hockey team is anxious to start up 2018-19 and build upon last winter's momentum.

Guided by 8th-year Head Coach Casey Jones and assistants Josh Hauge and Brent Brekke, the Golden Knights officially open up their 97th season with a two-game series at Penn State this Thursday and Friday. Both games at Pegula Ice Arena are 7:00 p.m. face offs.

• Game Notes Penn State Weekend
• USCHO.com Poll
• USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Poll
• Coaches Corner with Mike Vaillancourt
• ECAC Hockey

Watertown Times Season preview article

• Seventeen lettermen return from last year's team that posted a 23-11-6 overall record, including a 12-5-5 third place ECAC Hockey mark. The Knights, who skated to the third-longest winning streak in program at 14 games, closed out the 2017-18 campaign with two tough one-goal losses in the postseason, falling to Princeton, 2-1 in overtime of the ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship, and 1-0 to Providence in the NCAA East Regional.
• Junior forwards Devin Brosseau and Nico Sturm will act as Clarkson co-captains, while senior forward Marly Quince and junior goaltender Jake Kielly will serve as assistant captains. 
• The coaching staff has brought in another talented recruiting class, which looks to contribute significantly. The eight freshmen, consisting of six forwards and two defensemen, will enhance the roster and help Clarkson make up for the loss of 64 goals and 166 points.
• After opening the season at home the past three years, Clarkson will take to the road this season with the series in Happy Valley, PA. Since the 2000-2001 campaign, the Knights are 7-10-1 in official season openers, and are 4-2-1 with Casey Jones as head coach. Last season, Clarkson edged Penn State 2-1 at Cheel Arena on October 6.
• Clarkson is 2-6 all-time against Big10 opponents since the league was formed in 2013-14. The Knights went 2-2 last year, defeating Penn State (2-1) and Michigan (3-0) in Potsdam and losing two at Minnesota (3-1, 2-1). The Green and Gold will host Wisconsin on October 19 for its only other regular-season action against a Big10 foe this season.
• Clarkson, which finished with a 12th-place ranking in the national polls last year, is slated 17th in the preseason polls, and is picked to place fourth in the ECAC this year by the league coaches.
• The Knights rallied for a 4-3 win over the University of Guelph in exhibition play at Cheel Arena on Saturday. Clarkson scored twice in a 39-second span in the final two minutes of regulation. Marly Quince connected for the game-winner with 40 seconds remaining.
• Sophomore Grant Cooper, who was playing in his first game since early December, led the Green and Gold with a two-goal outing against Guelph. Cooper played a key role in the Knights' 14-game winning streak last year before suffering a season-ending injury against St. Lawrence on December 8.
• Sophomore Kevin Charyszyn also scored in Saturday's exhibition contest.




• The Knights dressed 24 of the 26 eligible players on the roster against Guelph, including seven freshmen. Rookie forwards Nick Campoli, a 2017 NHL Draft choice of Las Vegas, and Jamie Collins, and defensemen Brian Hurley and Michael Underwood recorded assists.
• Jake Kielly and sophomore Nicholas Latinovich split time in the Clarkson goal. Kielly made 11 saves on 13 shots, while Latinovich turned aside six of seven Guelph attempts.
• Kielly, a third-team ECAC Hockey All-Star last season, was named one of the 20 Division I goaltenders to the watch list for the 2019 Mike Richter Award, which annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in the NCAA. Kielly posts a .920 save percentage and a 2.17 goals against average en route to a 38-26-11 career record, including 11 shutouts. 
• Nico Sturm is listed among the Top 75 NCAA players to watch by The Hockey News. The Knights' top returning scorer with 37 points (14-23), Sturm was named ECAC Hockey's Best Defensive Forward and a third-team conference all-star last season.  A center, Sturm was the leading player in the country at the face off circle in 2018-19, winning 61.7% (433-275) of his draws.
• In its 97th season, Clarkson boasts 73 winning campaigns and a 1,437-862-160 all-time record for a .617 winning percentage since 1920-21.

Scouting Penn State
The Nittany Lions, guided by former Princeton coach Guy Gadowsky has emerged as a top program in the NCAA in only its seventh year of existence. Penn State made its second straight NCAA tournament appearance last year to close out an 18-15-5 season, which included a fourth-place 9-10-5 conference mark. Ranked 16th in the nation, the Nittany Lions skated past Brock 3-2 this past Saturday at Pegula Ice Arena.

The Series
Clarkson and Penn State have met just twice with each team picking up a victory. The Nittany Lions won the first encounter, skating to a 5-1 victory in the consolation game of the Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburg, PA on December 29, 2015. The Green and Gold came out on top in last year's match up at Cheel Arena, winning 2-1 in the season-opener on October 6. Seniors Marley Quince, with a goal, and Juho Jokiharju, with an assist, are the only current Knights to have recorded a point against Penn State. Jake Kielly made 38 saves on 39 shots in last year's win for a .974 save percentage.