Despite a solid effort and goals from three different players, the Clarkson University Hockey team came up short in a bid for its first win of the New Year as the Golden Knights were edged by Bowling Green 4-3 in the consolation game of the Dodge Holiday Classic in Minneapolis, MN on Sunday evening.

Clarkson, which lost 4-0 to Northern Michigan in the tournament’s first round on Saturday, falls to 4-12-2 overall. The Knights will look to snap a six-game winless drought (0-4-2) when they open a six-game home stand next weekend by hosting Alabama-Huntsville in a two game series at Cheel Arena.

Clarkson fell behind Bowling Green 2-0 in the first period at Mariucci Arena as Kai Kantola and Brennan Vargas scored for the Falcons (3-15-2). The Knights rallied in the second stanza to tie score through 40 minutes.

Senior assistant captain Matt Beca (Mississauga, ONT) started the Green and Gold comeback with a shorthanded tally at 6:58. Beca knocked in a rebound off a shot by sophomore Louke Oakley (Whitby, ONT) for his team-high ninth goal of the season and 40th career marker.

Audio of Beca Goal

The Knights’ captain Scott Freeman (Whitby, ONT) tied the game when he connected off an assist from Beca at 13:53. Sophomore Corey Tamblyn (Bobcaygeon, ONT) also assisted.

Audio of Freeman Goal

Bowling Green, which broke out of an eight-game slide (0-7-1), regained the lead off a power-play marker from Kyle Page at 12:26 of the third. The Falcons went on top 4-2 with an empty-net score from Josh Boyd at 18:46. Clarkson pulled to within one as junior defenseman Bryan Rufenach (Cameron, ONT) scored with the extra attacker with nine seconds remaining, but ran out of time in a bid to tie.

Audio of Rufenach Goal

The Knights out shot the Falcons 26-21. Sophomore Richie LaVeau (Arlington Heights, IL) posted 17 saves. Clarkson went 0-of-4 on the power play, while Bowling Green converted once in four man-advantage opportunities.