A three-goal, third-period effort salvaged a bit of pride for the Clarkson University Hockey team in their trip to Southwest Florida as the Golden Knights rallied for a 3-3 overtime tie against Cornell in the consolation game of the Florida College Classic on Saturday afternoon.
At 10-6-1, Clarkson returns to the North Country to host Boston College on January 5 in a 7:00 p.m. game at Cheel Arena.
Trailing 3-0 after two periods, the Green and Gold rallied in the third period against the Big Red to gain the tie at Germain Arena in Estero, FL. Senior David Cayer (Longueuil, QUE) started the Clarkson comeback with a power-play goal at 5:37. Cayer one-timed a pass from freshman Lauri Tuohimaa (Helsinki, Finland) from the left circle for his fifth goal of the season and 100th career point (35-65). Junior defenseman Phil Paquet (Quebec City, QUE) also assisted.
Late in the stanza, the Knights converted twice more in a span of 2:14 to force the deadlock. Senior Steve Zalewski (New Hartford, NY) tallied his eighth goal of the season at 13:30 during a scramble in front with Paquet and freshman blueliner Tom Pizzo (Rochester, NY) setting up the goal.
At 15:44, sophomore Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) finished off a pass at center ice from junior defenseman Adam Bellows (Lancaster, NY) with a shorthanded breakaway goal for the third straight Clarkson goal.
Cornell (4-5-2) took a 2-0 first-period lead with a 5-on-3 power-play goal by Michael Kennedy at 5:41 and an even-strength score from Patrick Kennedy at 14:28. The Big Red made it 3-0 through 40 minutes when Riley Nash scored at 15:21 of the second.
Cornell out shot the Knights 36-33, including a 12-5 margin in the first period. Clarkson held a 4-2 advantage in the five-minute overtime session. The Knights went 1-of-5 on the power play and killed off 6-of-7 Cornell man-advantage attempts.
Sophomore Tim Potter (Bakersfield, CA) started in goal for the Knights and made 28 saves on 31 shots through 52:09 of play before leaving with an injury late in the third. Senior David Leggio (Williamsville, NY) played the final 7:51 of regulation and all of overtime, and recorded the tie by turning aside all five shots he faced.
Cornell won thre shootout following overtime, converting on 1-of-7 chances, while the Knights were denied on all seven of their attempts.
