A bid by the Clarkson University Hockey team to gain its first holiday tournament title since 1995 came up short on New Year’s Eve as the Golden Knights fell to the University of Vermont 3-0 in the final of the Catamount Cup at Gutterson Fieldhouse in Burlington.
Clarkson advance to its first regular season tournament championship game in 10 years after rallying for a 3-3 overtime tie and then a 1-0 shootout win over Bemidji State in first round action on Friday night.
Ranked fifth in the country, Vermont scored a goal in each period to earn its first win over the Knights in three games. Mike Arcieri opened the scoring for the Catamounts at 4:19 of the first period. Torrey Mitchell made it 2-0 at 14:38 of the middle stanza and Jeff Corey iced the win for UVM with an empty-net tally with 44 seconds remaining in the third.
The Catamounts held a slight 22-19 edge in shots. Junior Kyle McNulty (Wakefield, RI) posted 19 saves for the Knights, including 11 over the final 20 minutes. Tournament MVP Joe Fallon gained his second straight shutout with a 19-save effort.
Clarkson ran its penalty-killing streak to 19 straight by holding Vermont scoreless on its four power-play attempts. The Knights went 0-of-4 with the man advantage.
Sophomore Nick Dodge (Oakville, ONT) who tallied two goals in regulation and had the lone score in the shootout against Bemidji State was named to the Catamount Cup all-tournament team.
Ranked 15th in the latest college hockey polls, Clarkson owns a 10-6-2 overall record. The Knights close out the non-league portion of the schedule next weekend when they host Division I newcomer RIT at Cheel Arena on Friday and then play St. Lawrence at the Corel Centre in Ottawa, Ontario on Saturday afternoon.
