A bid by the Clarkson University Hockey team for a weekend sweep of archrival St. Lawrence came up short on Saturday as the Golden Knights fell to the Saints 5-4 at Appleton Arena in Canton.
Clarkson, which defeated St. Lawrence 3-2 at Cheel Arena on Friday night, fell behind 1-0 early in the first, but then rallied back with three unanswered goals to hold a 3-1 advantage late in the opening stanza. The Saints, however, came back with four straight to go on top 4-3 midway through the third period.
The Knights pulled to within one with 35 seconds to play as sophomore David Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) scored his 10th of the year as Clarkson had the extra attacker after pulling junior goaltender Kyle McNulty (Wakefield, RI) with under three minutes remaining. Sophomore Steve Zalewski (New Hartford, NY) and junior defenseman Michael Grenzy (Lockport, NY) assisted. Clarkson produced a flurry of action in front of the Saints’ net as the final seconds ticked away, but was not able to come up with the equalizer.
Clarkson and St. Lawrence combined for five goals in the first period with the Knights holding a 3-2 lead after the opening 20 minutes. The Saints struck first after taking advantage of an errant Clarkson pass when T.J. Trevelyan scored shorthanded at 2:46. The Knights came right back 24 seconds later with a power-play marker by freshman Chris D’Alvise (Mississauga, ONT), who knocked in a rebound off a shot by sophomore Shawn Weller (South Glens Falls, NY) for his fifth goal of the year. Sophomore defenseman Grant Clitsome (Gloucester, ONT) also assisted. At 5:30, Weller finished off a passing combination from linemates, Zalewski and freshman Shea Guthrie (Carleton Place, ONT) for his 12th goal of the season to put the Knights on top.
After killing off three straight St. Lawrence power plays, including 1:35 of 5-on-3 play, Clarkson made it 3-1 at when sophomore Nick Dodge (Oakville, ONT) took a pass behind the net from classmate David Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) and scored on a wrap around attempt for his team-high 13th goal of the year at 17:20. With 1:46 remaining, St. Lawrence pulled back to within one on a goal by Brock McBride.
Penalty trouble finally caught up to the Knights in the second period. After killing off the sixth straight power play by St. Lawrence, Clarkson, unable to get a fresh set of skaters on the ice, could not clear the puck out of its zone and the Saints finally capitalize with their third goal as Trevelyan scored at 10:32 to tie it 3-3.
St. Lawrence took the lead with a pair of goals 3:38 apart in the third. Adam Hogg tallied at 7:52 and John Zeiler connected at 10:40 to give St. Lawrence a 5-3 lead.
The Saints out shot Clarkson 34-32. McNulty posted 29 saves. The Knights went 1-of-3 on the power play, while the Saints were 0-of-6 with the man advantage.
Clarkson, which owns a 13-11-2 overall record and a 6-7-1 ECAC Hockey League mark, takes to the road for the next weekend with league games at Quinnipiac and Princeton.
