Potsdam, NY – Four different Golden Knights scored goals and senior David Leggio (Williamsville, NY) posted 29 saves as Clarkson University extended its win streak over Boston College to 10 straight with a 4-2 victory over the 11th-ranked Eagles in non-league action before 3,425 fans at Cheel Arena on Saturday night.
Senior defenseman Grant Clitsome (Gloucester, ONT), junior Shea Guthrie (Carleton Place, ONT) and sophomore Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) paced the balanced offensive effort with one goal and one assist each as the Golden Knights snapped out of a three-game winless slump (0-2-1) with their ninth home win of the season. Saturday’s game was also the first meeting between Clarkson head coach George Roll and his former coach at Bowling Green, BC’s head coach Jerry York. Roll and York won the 1984 NCAA title at BGSU.
Twelfth-ranked Clarkson, which gained its first win since November 24, improved its record to 11-6-1 overall.
Boston College (8-5-5), which came into the North Country as one of the hottest teams in the country riding a five-game winning streak, seemed ready to break the contest open early in the first period .
Junior Nathan Gerbe, who was stopped on a pad save by Leggio off a shorthanded attempt four minutes into the game, connected on his second shot about two minutes later to give the visitors the early lead . The nation’s leading scorer, Gerbe took a pass from freshman linemate Brian Gibbons at the left circle and connected on a wrist shot at 5:53 for his 16th goal of the year.
With less than three minutes to play in the opening stanza, the Knights tied it up. Clitsome tallied his third goal of the season, finishing off a centering pass from freshman Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) at 17:13. Freshman Michael Kosziwka (Mississauga, ONT) also assisted.
The game’s paced picked up in the middle frame with Clarkson out scoring the Eagles 2-1 in the period to take a 3-2 through 40 minutes of play.
Senior Nick Dodge (Oakville, ONT) gave the Knights the lead with his third shorthanded marker of the season early in the second. Guthrie won the puck along the boards in the BC end and fed a pass to Dodge in the right circle where Clarkson’s captain snapped off a quick wrist shot for his seventh goal of the season. The Knights took a two-goal lead late in the stanza when Guthrie picked up a loose puck along the boards and connected on a shot from the top of the right circle for his four goal of the year. Beca and junior Chris D’Alvise (Mississauga, ONT) assisted.
Twenty-two seconds later, however, the Eagles pulled to within one as Brian Ferriero scored on a low shot in the slot off an assist from Joe Whitney.
Clarkson answered back to start the third when Beca scored just nine seconds after the faceoff to put the Knights on top 4-2. Senior Steve Zalewski (New Hartford, NY) and Clitsome assisted.
BC held a slight 31-30 edge in shots, but Leggio came through with one of his best games of the year, including two point-blank stops on the top scorer in the nation. Leggio hade 14 of his 29 saves in the first period. Freshman John Muse made 26 saves for BC, including 12 in the third period.
Both teams were 0-of-5 on the power play.
Clarkson returns to ECAC Hockey play when its opens a four-game road trip at Dartmouth and Harvard next weekend. The Knights are tied for first place in the conference with a 6-2 league mark.
Boston College will look to improve upon its third-place 4-3-4 Hockey East record when it resumes league play on January 9, hosting Vermont.
Prior to Saturday’s game, Clarkson held a special ceremony. President Tony Collins welcomed alumnus John T. "Jocko" McLennan and legendary Clarkson and Boston College hockey coach Len Ceglarski, as Clarkson Men’s Hockey Coach George Roll became the first ever "Leonard S. Ceglarski Chair." McLennan with his family have created a $1.5 million endowment, which will fund the Clarkson Golden Knights men’s head hockey coach position.
