Potsdam, NY - Despite out shooting St. Cloud State by nearly a 3-to-1 margin the Clarkson University Hockey team suffered its first loss at home this season, falling to the Huskies 4-1 before 2,391 fans at Cheel Arena on Friday night.
Ranked 10th in the nation, St. Cloud State, of the WCHA, extended its unbeaten streak to eight games (6-0-2) and improved its overall record to 7-2-2. The Golden Knights, of ECAC Hockey, saw their unbeaten streak at Cheel Arena come to an end at 20-games (16-0-4), which included a 7-0-0 mark this season. Ranked seventh in the nation entering its non-league weekend series against the Huskies, Clarkson suffered only its fourth loss of the season, dropping to 9-4 overall.
The top two scorers in the nation, sophomore Ryan Lasch and freshman Garrett Roe continued their torrid offensive pace, and sophomore goaltender Jase Weslosky posted a 32-save effort, including 17 stops in the second period, to lead St. Cloud to the impressive win on the road.
St. Cloud wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, connecting for a power goal 55 seconds after the opening faceoff. Just 21 seconds into the man advantage, Andreas Nodl found Lasch all alone at the doorstep where the sophomore knocked in the opening goal for the quick lead.
Another quick goal to start a period gave the Huskies a 2-0 advantage. St. Cloud scored 45 seconds into the middle frame when Lasch tallied his second goal of the night and team-high 10th goal of the season, finishing off a behind-the-net pass from Tony Mosey. Nate Dey also assisted.
Benefiting from three power play opportunities in the second period, the Knights had numerous quality chances to notch their first goal, out shooting St. Cloud 17-2 in the stanza, but perfect play from Weslosky, several block shots by the Huskies and a little bit of bad luck kept the Knights from getting on the scoreboard. Clarkson’s best chances came late in the period when they enjoyed 42 seconds of a two-man advantage.
Roe made it 3-0 early in the third when he picked up a loose puck along the right boards and fired a quick shot from the top of the circle at 2:12 for his eighth goal of the season.
Clarkson got on the scoreboard with less than five minutes to play on freshman defenseman Bryan Rufenach’s (Cameron, ONT) first collegiate goal at 15:43. Senior David Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) set up the goal for his 97th career point.
With just 0.1 seconds left on the clock senior Matt Hartman (St. Cloud, MN) tallied into the empty net to give St. Cloud State the three-goal victory.
Clarkson out shot the Huskies 33-13, including a 26-7 margin through the first 40 minutes. Senior David Leggio (Williamsville, NY) made 13 stops for the Knights. Clarkson went 0-of-7 on the power while the Huskies were 1-of-3 with the man advantage.
Clarkson and St. Cloud will face off again on Saturday, at 7:00 p.m.
