Knights Upended in Exhibition Play by Concordia, 5-1

Men's Hockey | 12/29/2024 7:02:00 PM

Potsdam, NY – With five of the top six scorers for the Clarkson University Men's Hockey team not in the Golden Knights' sweaters the Green and Gold had trouble keeping up with the offense of Concordia, as the visitors skated away with a 5-1 win in an exhibition game Sunday afternoon at Cheel Arena.

The Golden Knights will enter the New Year with a record of 11-5-2 and host Union College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on January 10-11.

Clarkson's offense came out a little sluggish and mustered just two shots on goal in the first 20 minutes, as most of the best scoring opportunities were broken up before a shot would be attempted. Concordia took advantage, picking up a goal at 7:13 in the opening period as Nathan Lavoie's shot from the top of the left circle was redirected by Mathieu Bizier just inside the far post. Brady Parker made a solid save with his left blocker on the glove side about six minutes later, but the Stingers were able to beat the senior one more time in the opening stanza thanks to a power play chance. Nicholas Girouard converted on a put back off a rebound at 14:39 to put the visitors up 2-0 early.

The Stingers would score again early in the second period off a turnover in the neutral zone as Girouard was the goal scorer once again on a wrist shot from the left circle at 5:23. For the remainder of the period, the Clarkson offense found its footing, thanks somewhat to two power play chances. The Knights enjoyed prolonged possession in the latter half of the period, but still had trouble getting the puck on goal. One of the best scoring chances of the period came near the midway point of the frame, but Nikolas Hurtubise made a sprawling save to keep the Knights off the scoreboard. Despite the strong effort in the second, Clarkson would again come up empty and see Concordia convert. In the waning minutes of the second, Alexandre Nadeau did some nifty stickhandling right in front of Parker, finally finishing off his play with a backhand at 17:44 to make it 4-0.

Clarkson would be the beneficiary of a power play early in the third, but it was Concordia that would score on special teams. Nadeau flipped the puck forward out of the Clarkson offensive zone to create a 1-on-1 for Daniel Agostino. He outraced a Clarkson defender to the puck and was able to finish off a backhand at the 1:36 mark, scoring shorthanded for Concordia. Clarkson played evenly in the third, finally beating Hurtubise around the midpoint of the frame. Kaelan Taylor and Shawn O'Donnell connected around the perimeter and found Tate Taylor at the middle of the right circle, where he flicked a backhand over the glove side of the Concordia goalie to make it 5-1.

Clarkson finished with a 27-19 deficit in shots on goal and was 0-for-4 on the power play while Concordia scored on one of its two chances. Brady Parker made 15 saves in the first two periods for Clarkson and Marcus Brannman made seven stops in the third period for the Knights. Nikolas Hurtubise stopped 18 shots for the Stingers.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Kaelan Taylor: D; 6' 2"; Senior; Left

#34 Brady Parker: G; 5' 10"; Junior; Catch Left

#27 Tate Taylor: D; 5' 11"; Freshman; Shoots: R

#13 Shawn O'Donnell: F; 5' 11"; Sophomore; Shoots: L

Players Mentioned

#3 Kaelan Taylor
: 6' 2"; Senior; Left
: D

#34 Brady Parker
: 5' 10"; Junior; Catch Left
: G

#27 Tate Taylor
: 5' 11"; Freshman; Shoots: R
: D

#13 Shawn O'Donnell
: 5' 11"; Sophomore; Shoots: L
: F