Another third-period rally by the opposition left the Clarkson University Hockey team in the loss column as the Golden Knights fell to Providence College 4-3 in the opening round of the Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Pot in Rhode Island on Saturday night. The Friars outscore Clarkson 3-1 over the final 20 minutes to pull out the one-goal victory. The Knights, who fell below the .500 mark for the first time this season with a 6-7-3 record, play Harvard in Sunday’s consolation game beginning at 5:00 p.m. The Crimson lost to St. Cloud State 6-4 in the other first round game.
“I thought we played pretty good tonight,” stated head coach George Roll. “ We played disciplined and stayed out of the box for the most part and had a lot of good chances. But once again we couldn’t hold the lead late. We just had a missed coverage and they scored on the backdoor. We played hard and competed for 60 minutes, but unfortunately came away with a loss."
Against Providence, Clarkson led 1-0 after the first, 2-1 after 40 minutes and 3-2 midway through the third before the Friars tallied two late goals to hand the Knights their third straight loss.
The Golden Knights top two scores combined for the only goal of the first period. Junior Chris Blight (Cambridge, ONT) tallied his team-high 10th goal of the season, jamming in a shot at the top of the crease at 6:49, just three seconds after Clarkson killed off a Providence power play. Junior Mac Faulkner (King City, ONT), who recorded his 12th assist of the season, set up the goal after battling through a check along the left boards and centering a pass in front.
Providence, playing for the first time in 31 days, tied it early in the second period, scoring on a 3-on-1 when Chase Watson knocked in a rebound at 6:47. The Knights’ fourth line put Clarkson on top 2-1 at 14:41 of the middle frame. Sophomore John Sullivan (New Bedford, NH) slapped in a rebound off junior Trevor Edward’s (Carleton Place, ONT) shot from in close after junior Lyon Porter (Shaker Heights, OH) started the rush with a nifty move at the blueline.
Providence scored its second goal at 3:18 of the third, but the Knights went back on top with a power-play tally from junior Jay Latulippe (Saratoga Springs, NY), his third goal of the season at 9:19. The Friars, however, connected for a power-play marker at 13:13 to tie the score 3-3 and then went on top with the game winner at 15:01.
Providence outshot Clarkson 32-28. Sophomore Dustin Traylen(Kirkland, QUE) posted 28 saves in the Knights’ goal. Clarkson was 1-of-6 on the power play, while the Friars went 1-of-5 with the man-advantage.
