A lengthy drought on the road came to an end for the Clarkson University Hockey team in impressive fashion as the Golden Knights skated away with a 6-1 victory over Providence College on Friday night at Schneider Arena in Rhode Island. Clarkson, off to its best start since the 1990-91 campaign with a 3-0 record, won for the first time on the road since early last December, snapping a 13-game skid away from Potsdam.
ECACHL Player of the Week, junior Steve Zalewski (New Hartford, NY) and sophomore Chris D’Alvise (Mississauga, ONT) each tallied two goals, senior defenseman Michael Grenzy (Lockport, NY) recorded three assists and junior David Leggio (Williamsville, NY) posted 34 saves to highlight the non-league victory over a Hockey East foe.
After killing off two early power-play attempts by Providence, the Golden Knights hit stride midway through the first period when senior defenseman Matt Curley (Madrid, NY) finished off a 2-on-1 break from junior David Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) at 11:13 for his first goal since late in his rookie campaign. D’Alvise made it 2-0 when he one-timed a pass from Grenzy for a power-play marker at 18:22. Junior captain Nick Dodge (Oakville, ONT) also assisted.
At 8:03 of the second, Zalewski finished off a pass from classmate Shawn Weller (South Glens Falls, NY) after Grenzy forced a turnover at the blueline. Clarkson made it 4-0 at 13:03 of the middle frame as Cayer tucked in a shot from the side of the net while on the power-play. With just 9.1 seconds left in the period, and their goaltender pulled for an extra attacker, Providence got on the scoreboard with a power-play goal to put a temporary halt to Clarkson’s momentum.
The Knights sealed the win with third period goals from D’Alvise, a shorthanded, empty-net marker at 14:26, and another empty-net tally by Zalewski with 2:07 to play as freshman Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) picked up his second assist.
The Friars out shot Clarkson 35-26, but the Knights were strong in specialty teams play with two power-play goals in six attempts while killing off seven of eight Providence man-advantage attempts and scoring a shorthanded marker.
Clarkson plays at UMass in Amherst on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
