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Having played and beaten some of the best teams in the country in the first half of the schedule, the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team solidified itself as a Top-5 team in the NCAA. The Golden Knights, guided by second-year co-head coaches Shannon and Matt Desrosiers, will now face their stiffest challenge of the 2009-10 campaign when they play a two-game series at number-one ranked Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA this weekend.
Faceoff is 7:00 p.m. on Friday and 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Clarkson, led by senior captain Britney Selina (Thornhill, ONT) and senior assistant captain Carlee Eusepi (Oakville, ONT), is ranked fourth in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls with a 15-4-2 overall record. The Green and Gold stand atop the ECAC Hockey standings with a 9-1-1 league mark.
After a 33-day layoff, Clarkson returned to action last weekend by opening a six-game road trip with a three-point weekend in NY’s Capital District. The Knights extended their ECAC Hockey unbeaten streak to five games (4-0-1) with a win at Union (3-1) and a tie at RPI (1-1). Sophomore Brittany Mulligan (London, ONT) paced the offense with a goal in each game. She scored the opening goal in the win at Union on Friday and tallied the Knights’ lone goal, unassisted, in Saturday’s tie at Rensselaer. Junior Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY) was strong in goal, combing for 50 saves on 52 shots (.962 save %), and did not allow an even-strength goal over the weekend. She posted her fourth 30+-save outing of the season with 31 stops against the Engineers.
Clarkson boasts the second stingiest defense in Division I, allowing only 1.29 goals per game. Dahm has played every minute in the Green and Gold crease and backbones the solid effort. She holds a .946 save percentage (4th best in the nation), a 1.23 goals against average (tied 3rd) and is tied for the national lead in shutouts (5).
Five Golden Knights are recording double figures in the points column. Dominique Thibault (L’Orignal, ONT), a senior transfer from UConn, leads the way offensively with 23 points, including a team-high 12 goals. The Knights’ all-time leading scorer, Selina has tallied 21 points, including a team-high 15 assists. Selina has amassed 133 career points on 46 goals and 87 assists through 129 games. Junior Melissa Waldie (Newmarket, ONT) has 18 points (10-8) and leads the team in power-play markers with six. Sophomore standout Juana Baribeau (Amos, QUE) chips in 18 points (10-8). Eusepi powers the offense from the blueline with 10 points (3-7).
After the games at Mercyhurst, Clarkson returns to ECAC Hockey action with games at Yale and Brown on January 22-23 before returning to Cheel Arena at the end of the month to host Colgate and Cornell. The Knights are 5-4-1 in away games.
The Lakers of Mercyhurst College bring a 16-1-2 overall record into the weekend series against Clarkson. Mercyhurst has not played since early January when it defeated Minnesota State (8-2) and tied St. Cloud State (4-4) at the Easton Holiday Showcase in St. Cloud MN on January 2-3 to run its current unbeaten streak to 11 games (9-0-2). The Lakers’ lone loss this season was on October 31 when they were edged by Minnesota-Duluth 4-3 at the Mercyhurst Ice Arena. The Lakers, who are 6-1 at home, have not played a game in Erie since defeating Robert Morris (6-2) on December 5.
The Series:
Mercyhurst holds the lead in the all-time series against Clarkson with a 5-3-2 advantage, but the Green and Gold have enjoyed the better of the play recently. The Knights own a current five-game (3-0-2) unbeaten streak over the Lakers, including three straight wins. Clarkson swept the Lakers last season at Cheel Arena, winning 5-2 and 4-2 on October 24-25, 2008. The Knights also skated to a tie (2-2) and a win (3-2) in Potsdam during the 2007-08 campaign. Clarkson is 0-3-1 at Mercyhurst.
