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With a return to ECAC Hockey play the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team will look to regain the form which made the Golden Knights one of the hottest teams in the country closing out the 2011 portion of the schedule. Guided by fourth-year co-head coaches Matt and Shannon Desrosiers and assistant coach Matt Kelly, the Golden Knights play at Yale and Brown this weekend. The Knights face off against the Bulldogs of Yale in a 7:00 p.m. game at Ingalls Rink in New Haven, CT on Friday, and then battle the Brown Bears at Meehan Auditorium in Providence, RI on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.

Seeing its first action in 24 days and without leading scorer, sophomore Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ONT), Clarkson struggled to start the New Year, dropping two games in Boston against a pair of Top-10 ranked teams. Last Thursday, the Green and Gold lost to seventh-ranked Northeastern, 5-2, and then fell to fourth-ranked Boston College, 3-2, on Friday.

Led by senior captain Katelyn Ptolemy (Dinsmore, SASK) and senior assistant captain Danielle Boudreau (Whitby, ONT), Clarkson owns a 12-6-4 overall record its tied for fourth in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 6-3-1 league mark. The Knights, who have won their last three conference games and six of their last seven in league play, are one point behind third-place Princeton and seven points away from ECAC Hockey leader Quinnipiac. Clarkson, however, has four games in hand over both the Tigers and Bobcats.

In Clarkson’s last ECAC Hockey action before the lengthy break, the Knights posted an impressive weekend sweep at Cheel Arena, shutting out Rensselaer 10-0 and skating past Union 6-2 on December 2-3.

After a strong showing with Canada’s U-22 National team at the Meco Cup in Germany, Rattray will provide a boost to the Knights upon her return to the lineup. Rattray paces the Knights offensively with 24 points on 11 goals and 13 assists.

One of seven players scoring in double figures for the Green and Gold, sophomore Carly Mercer (Exeter, ONT) follows with 22 points, including a team-high 14 assists. Mercer tallied three points (1-2) during the Boston trip. Junior classmates, forward Danielle Skirrow (Trenton, ONT) and defenseman Hailey Wood (Lethbridge, ALB) post 15 points apiece. Skirrow has tallied nine goals and is tied for fourth in the nation, along with Mercer, for power-play markers with six. Wood is one of Clarkson’s leading playmakers with 13 assist.

Selected ECAC Goaltender of the Month for both October and November, sophomore Erica Howe (Ottawa, ONT) has posted all-star numbers this season. Playing in all but 47 minutes in the Clarkson goal through the first 22 games, Howe boasts a 1.76 goals against average (6th in the nation), a .926 save percentage (13th) and is tied for second in the NCAA in shutouts with five. Howe backstops Division I’s second-ranked penalty-kill 89.2% (83-93).

Yale has struggled this year with a just 1-16 overall record and a 1-8 league mark. The Bulldogs have lost eight straight after falling to Brown, 4-1, at home on January 4. Yale was also shut out, 4-0, by McGill in exhibition play on Saturday.

Entering Friday’s game against St. Lawrence, Brown is 2-0-1 in its last three contests. The Bears stand at 5-5-6 overall and 2-4-3 in ECAC Hockey. In its last action, Brown tied Connecticut, 1-1, on the road on Saturday.