Opportunities were there for a young Clarkson University Hockey team in its season-opener at Niagara University on Friday night, but the Golden Knights could not finish off on numerous Grade A scoring chances as they fell to the Purple Eagles 6-3 before 1,097 fans at Dwyer Arena.
Clarkson out shot Niagara 52-37, including by 42-24 margin over the final 40 minutes, but breakdowns in their own zone and solid goaltending by the Purple Eagles cost the Knights a chance for victory. The 52-shot effort was Clarkson's most shots on goal since putting 56 on net in an 8-1 win over Mercyhurst at Cheel on January 5, 2002.
The Purple Eagles took the early lead in the first period with a power-play marker at 4:51, but Clarkson battled back and tied it on senior Jeff Genovy’s (Kalamazoo, MI) man-advantage marker at 13:14 of the opening frame. Genovy picked up his 11th career goal on a shot from the bottom of the right circle connecting off assists junior Brodie Rutherglen (Trail, BC) and freshman defenseman Philippe Paquet (Quebec City, QUE).
Niagara opened the second period with three straight goals to take a commanding 4-1 lead midway through the stanza. Thirty-three seconds after the Purple Eagles’ fourth goal, junior defenseman Max Kolu (Turku, Finland) pulled Clarkson to within two on a hard shot from just inside the blueline which found the upper left hand corner of the Niagara net at 13:14. Rutherglen and Genovy assisted. The Knights continued to pressure in the remaining minutes of the middle frame and ended up with a 23-15 shot advantage in the period.
Niagara slowed Clarkson’s momentum midway through the third with their fifth goal at 10:22. Senior Chris Brekelmans (London, ONT) tallied on a blast from the blueline at 12:03 to give the Knights’ life. Rutherglen picked up his third assist, while freshman Chris D’Alvise (Mississauga, ONT) also set up the play to collect his first collegiate point.
The Eagles, however, put an end to the Green and Gold’s come-back bid with an empty-net goal with 2:45 left.
Sophomore David Leggio (Williamsville, NY), who had a couple of big stops, posted a career-high 31 saves in the Clarkson net. The Knights went 1-of-2 on the power play, while Niagara was 2-of-4 with the man-advantage.
