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A well deserved rest awaits the Clarkson University Hockey team this weekend as the Golden Knights enjoy a first-round bye in the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Guided by fifth-year head coach George Roll, associate coach Greg Drechsel and assistant coach Jean-Francois Houle, the Golden Knights closed out the regular season in style with two impressive victories at Cheel Arena to claim the Cleary Cup as the league’s regular season champions.
The Knights will host an ECAC Hockey quarterfinal round series on the weekend of March 14-16 against the lowest remaining seed from first-round play.
Clarkson gained the program’s 10th conference regular-season crown, clinching the title for the first time in Potsdam since 1981 after defeating Princeton 4-3 on Friday night. The Knights showed no signs of a let down the following night as they skated to their most dominating victory in over 10 years, an 8-0 rout of Quinnipiac on Saturday.
Led by senior captain Nick Dodge (Oakville, ONT) and senior assistant captains Grant Clitsome (Gloucester, ONT) and Steve Zalewski (New Hartford, NY), Clarkson won its first regular-season title since 2001 with a 15-4-3 league mark, four points better than Princeton. Ranked 8th in both the USCHO.com/CSTV and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine national polls, the Green and Gold have reached 20 wins overall for the second straight year with a 20-10-4 record.
Final 2007-08 ECAC Hockey Standings
In a match up between the top two teams in the conference on Friday, Clarkson rallied from a 3-2 deficit with third-period goals by junior defenseman Phil Paquet (Quebec City, QUE), his first of the year, and Dodge to gain the one-goal win over Princeton. The Tigers held a 29-27 shot advantage, but senior David Leggio (Williamsville, NY) was solid in goal once again with a 26- save effort.
Highlighted by four goals from the Class of 2008 on Saturday, Clarkson ran its unbeaten streak against ECAC Hockey foes at Cheel Arena to 22 games (17-0-5) with the overwhelming victory against Quinnipiac. The Green and Gold jumped out to a commanding 4-0 first-period lead against the Bobcats and never looked back in their largest margin of victory since defeating Rensselaer 11-0 on November 22, 1997.
Featuring one of the most balanced offenses in the country, Clarkson is averaging 2.94 goals per game, and was second in the conference with 3.27 GPG. Ten Knights have recorded double figures in the point column, including seven players with 20-or-more points. Sophomore Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) leads the way with 32 points on 10 goals and a team-high 22 assists. He finished third in league scoring, averaging 1.14 points per game. Beca, who tallied six points (2-4) in the weekend sweep, was named INCH Player of the Week.
Zalewski finished as the leading goal scorer in ECAC Hockey with 19 overall, including a league-high 16 in conference play. He is Clarkson’s second-leading scorer with 30 points. Zalewski has excelled in specialty-teams play with six power-play goals, two shorthanded tallies and three game-winners. Junior Chris D’Alvise (Mississauga, ONT) is third in scoring with 27 points (11-16).
Starting 33 of 34 games in goal, including all 22 ECAC Hockey contests, Leggio backbones one of the stingiest defenses in the country, allowing only 2.44 GPG. He posts a .919 save percentage, a 2.26 goals against average and a 20-9-4 overall record, including four shutouts.
Knight Notes:
Clarkson claimed the program’s 10th conference regular-season crown, clinching the title for the first time in Potsdam since 1981 with Friday’s 4-3 victory over Princeton. It was the Knights’ first regular-season title since 2001 … Clarkson, which has a 20-10-4 overall record, has posted back-to-back 20-win campaigns for the first time since the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons … The 8-0 win over Quinnipiac was Clarkson’s largest margin of victory since defeating Rensselaer 11-0 on November 22, 1997 … Clarkson is unbeaten in its last 22 games (17-0-5) against ECAC Hockey foes at Cheel Arena … The Knights have received a balanced scoring effort all season long and it was no different in the final regular season weekend as nine different players accounted for the 12 goals. Fifteen of the 20 skaters for the Knights over the weekend accounted for at least one point … Seven Knights have recorded 20-or-more points for the season … Matt Beca tops the Clarkson point leaders with 32 on 10 goals and a team-high 22 assists. He was named INCH Player of the Week after recording one goal and two assists in each win over the weekend. Beca has a six-game point scoring streak with five goals (two shorthanded) and seven assists during that span. He is tied with Nick Dodge for the team lead in shorthanded markers with four this season … The Knights have 11 shorthanded goals this season. The school record is 18 set in 1976-77 … Clarkson scored three shorthanded goals against Quinnipiac, including two on the same Bobcat power play, 33 seconds apart between the end of the first and the start of the second period … Steve Zalewski finished as the leading goal scorer in ECAC Hockey with 19 overall, including a league-high 16 in conference play. The Knights are 10-1-3 when Zalewski scores a goal. He has excelled in specialty-teams play with a team-high six power-play goals, two shorthanded tallies and three game-winners. He has eight points (4-4) over the past six games. Zalewski has 105 career points on 56 goals and 49 assists through 146 games, including 30 points (19-11) this season. Zalewski joined classmates Dodge (51-70-121) and David Cayer (38-69-107) in the Century Club this season … Solid defensively throughout the season, Grant Clitsome picked up his offensive contribution down the stretch recording 10 points (2-8) since February 8. He has a career-best 20 points (5-15) this season and leads all ECAC Hockey players in plus/minus at +23 (stat provided by CollegeHockeyNews.com) … Clarkson’s captain, Dodge has been a solid two-way forward throughout the season and is beginning to find his scoring touch at the most important time of the year. Held without a goal in league play through the first 14 conference games, Dodge has four ECAC Hockey goals since February 8, including three over the past three games. Three of those four goals have been game-winners, including the title-clinching goal in the 4-3 victory over Princeton. He set the school-record for career shorthanded goals with his ninth shorty in the 3-1 win at Rensselaer (2/23). Dodge has 23 points this season (11-12), including four power-play markers four shorthanded tallies, and four game-winners … Chris D’Alvise, the Knights’ third-leading scorer with 27 points(11-16), broke out of a four-game slump with a power-play goal and one assist against Quinnipiac … Phil Paquet started Clarkson’s third-period rally against Princeton with his first goal of the season … Senior Mike Arciero (Avon, CT), playing in perhaps his last college game, provided a goal for the highlight reel with his second score of the season off a diving effort across the crease in Saturday’s regular-season final … Freshman Lauri Tuohimaa (Helsinki, Finland) set up five goals in the weekend sweep, including a season-high three assists against Quinnipiac … Rookie defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) scored for the first time since November 23 with a two-goal effort, Clarkson’s first and last goals in the win over the Bobcats … David Leggio is the first Clarkson goaltender to record back-to-back 20-win seasons since Dan Murphy ’98 posted three consecutive 20-win campaigns from 1995-96 through 1997-98. Leggio is 20-9-4 this season and has a 57-26-12 career record, the fourth most wins ever by a Knight goaltender … The Knights are 13-0-1 when leading after two periods ... Former Clarkson all-star and current director of player personnel for the NHL’s Dallas Stars, David A. Taylor ‘77 has been elected to Clarkson’s Board of Trustees.
