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Men's Hockey April 19, 2014

Clarkson Hockey Announces 2013-14 Award Winners

Clarkson's Class of 2014 (l-r): Matt Zarbo, Will Frederick, Alex Boak, Allan McPherson, Jarrett Burton, Mike Garlasco. Missing Ben Sexton (with Providence Bruins)
The 2013-14 Clarkson University Hockey team was recognized at the annual Knight Club Booster Awards Banquet on Saturday, April 19. Family, friends, and booster club members paid tribute to the Golden Knights and honored the seven seniors in the Class of 2014.

The Golden Knights' Class of 2014 — Alex Boak, Jarrett Burton, Will Frederick, Mike Garlasco, Allan McPherson, Ben Sexton and Matt Zarbo — helped Clarkson compile 61 victories during their four-year careers and led the Green and Gold to their best season in six years this past winter with a 21-17-4 overall record and the program's first postseason series victory since 2007.

Ten awards were announced at the banquet. Headlining the list of recipients was McPherson and Sexton, who were named co-winners of the Bill Harrison Clarkson Most Valuable Player in honor of the successful Clarkson coach of the late 1940s and 1950s.

McPherson was Clarkson's leading offensive force with 32 points, including a team-high 13 goals, through 42 games. The 5-10, 181-pound native of Kinburn, Ontario scored five goals on the power play, netted five game-winners and finished with a +6 plus/minus rating. He tallied the game-winning goal in the 2-1 triumph at Harvard on November 9 with two minutes to play and also connected for the deciding score in the 3-2 victory over Cornell at Cheel Arena on November 15 with just 37 seconds left in regulation. McPherson became the first Golden Knight to join Clarkson's Century Club in four seasons when he reached the coveted 100-point mark this winter. McPherson, who was also last year's MVP, closed out his collegiate career with 103 points on 41 goals and 62 assists in 150 games.

Clarkson's captain, Sexton battled through injuries to once again emerge as one of the Knights' top two-way players. A 6-0, 203-pound forward from Kanata, Ontario, Sexton skated in 35 games and was the Green and Gold's leading playmaker with 22 assists to go along with 28 points. He connected for four power-play markers, one game-winner and posted a +5 rating. He was one of the top faceoff men in the country, winning 61% of his draws. He recorded 24 goals and 61 assists in 102 career games as a three-year captain at Clarkson.

Sexton was also honored with the Mike Morrison Dedication Award for teamwork, hustle and dedication. The award was named in honor of the former Clarkson captain who died in a work accident on July 27, 1988.

Kevin Tansey was presented with the Clarkson Ironman Award. The award represents the player, who in spite of being bruised, broken, spliced or otherwise hurt, most demonstrated the will and determination to overcome injuries and contribute to the team.

A 6-3, 216-pound defenseman from Hammond, Ontario, Tansey surprised everyone with his standout play this season after missing all of last year recovering from injuries suffered in a 2012 late-summer assault. He skated in all 42 games of his sophomore campaign and was an offensive force from the blueline with 14 points on four goals and 10 assists. He connected for the game-winning goal in 3-2 win over defending national champion Yale on January 17 at Cheel.
 
Sophomore Jeff DiNallo was presented with the Richmond Unsung Award. Named in honor of loyal Clarkson followers Ernie and Connie Richmond, the Richmond award is presented to a Golden Knight who has shown improvement in his playing ability and displayed team leadership.

DiNallo, a 5-7, 169-pound sophomore forward from Aurora, Ontario, more than quadrupled his rookie scoring contribution as Clarkson's third leading scorer in 2013-14. He tallied 25 points and was tied as the Knights' second-leading goal scorer with 11 tallies. DiNallo scored three times on the power play and connected for the game-winning goal in the 3-2 victory over Merrimack on January 10 and in the Knights' first playoff win of the postseason, the 4-0 triumph over Princeton on March 8.

Burton was honored with the Fran Neragin Award. Named in honor of the loyal Clarkson hockey booster who passed away in 1984, the Neragin award is presented to a player who displays unselfish play and sportsmanship both on and off the ice.

A native of Echo Bay, Ontario, Burton, a 6-0, 182-pound forward, played in all 42 games and recorded 20 points, including 11 goals. He scored three power-play markers and lifted the Knights to their first win of the year with the game-winning goal late in the third period of the season opener, a 2-1 triumph at Niagara on October 5. He also scored the deciding goal in the 4-1 victory over RIT at Cheel on October 18. Burton was also a top faceoff man for Clarkson, winning 62% of his draws.
 
Freshman goaltender Steve Perry was selected as the Knights' Rookie of the Year. The 5-10, 162-pound native of Ligonier, Pennsylvania played 24 games in goal, starting 23, to help lead Clarkson to its best season in six years. He started the last five postseason games to backbone the Knights to their first playoff series win since 2007. Perry led all ECAC Hockey freshman goaltenders in shutouts with four, and was second in the country among rookie netminders. He was eighth in the nation in goals against average at 2.05, and posted a .917 save percentage.
 
Sophomore Paul Geiger, a 6-3, 215-pound native of Stouffville, Ontario was named Clarkson's Best Defensive Player. Geiger
put in a steady effort on the Clarkson blueline skating in 42 games and posted a team-best +7 plus/minus rating. He led the Knights' defensemen in scoring, recording 17 points on five goals and 12 assists. Geiger was also a force on the power play with two goals and five assists on the man-advantage.

Junior forward Joe Zarbo was selected as the recipient of the North Country Award, presented to the Golden Knights who distinguished themselves during the season series against archrival St. Lawrence.

The 6-0, 185-pound native of Grand Island, NY helped the Knights extend their league unbeaten streak over their archrival to eight games (7-0-1) with back-to-back victories in December. Joe Zarbo was the only Knight in the balanced efforts to record multiple points in both wins over the
Saints. He tallied two assists in the 5-4 win at Cheel on December 6, and connected for a goal and an assist in the 4-3 victory in Canton on December 7. His game-winning goal at Appleton Arena came early in the third period and lifted the Green and Gold to their fourth consecutive win on St. Lawrence's home ice.

For the second consecutive season, Matt Zarbo was honored as Clarkson's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. The 6-1, 194-pound forward from Grand Island, New York is an exceptional student-athlete who competed at a high level for the Golden Knights while studying in the University's rigorous curriculum of Civil Engineering. Zarbo, for the second straight year, was also a nominee for ECAC Hockey's Student-Athlete of the Year award. He has a 3.935 grade point average and was a 2014 national Senior Class Award all-star – second team. Injured for most of January and February, he played in 32 games and recorded two goals and five assists.

Junior defenseman James Howden (Edgely, Saskatchewan) and Geiger were presented with the Junior and Sophomore Academic Achievement Awards, respectively.
 
Geiger was also announced as next year's Clarkson captain.

 
MVPMcPherson14
Head Coach Casey Jones and Allan McPherson
TanseyIronMan14
Kevin Tansey and Dr. Luc Perrier
RichmondDiNallo14
Jeff DiNallo and volunteer assistant coach Shawn Grant '01
NeraginBurton14
Clarkson Hockey Alumni Josh Bartell '96 and Jarrett Burton
RookiePerry14
Steve Perry and assistant coach Andy Jones
GeigerDEF14
Paul Geiger
ZarboAwards14
Joe and Matt Zarbo
Scholars14
James Howden, Matt Zarbo and Paul Geiger
GeigerCAPT14
Paul Geiger and Head Coach Casey Jones
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Players Mentioned

Alex Boak

#5 Alex Boak

D
6' 1"
Senior
Jarrett Burton

#20 Jarrett Burton

F
6' 0"
Senior
Jeff DiNallo

#29 Jeff DiNallo

F
5' 7"
Sophomore
Will Frederick

#37 Will Frederick

F
6' 3"
Senior
Mike Garlasco

#19 Mike Garlasco

F
5' 11"
Senior
Paul Geiger

#3 Paul Geiger

D
6' 3"
Sophomore
James Howden

#23 James Howden

D
6' 2"
Junior
Allan McPherson

#9 Allan McPherson

F
5' 10"
Senior
Ben Sexton

#14 Ben Sexton

F
6' 0"
Senior
Kevin Tansey

#10 Kevin Tansey

D
6' 3"
Sophomore
Joe Zarbo

#27 Joe Zarbo

F
6' 0"
Junior
Matt Zarbo

#21 Matt Zarbo

F
6' 1"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Alex Boak

#5 Alex Boak

6' 1"
Senior
D
Jarrett Burton

#20 Jarrett Burton

6' 0"
Senior
F
Jeff DiNallo

#29 Jeff DiNallo

5' 7"
Sophomore
F
Will Frederick

#37 Will Frederick

6' 3"
Senior
F
Mike Garlasco

#19 Mike Garlasco

5' 11"
Senior
F
Paul Geiger

#3 Paul Geiger

6' 3"
Sophomore
D
James Howden

#23 James Howden

6' 2"
Junior
D
Allan McPherson

#9 Allan McPherson

5' 10"
Senior
F
Ben Sexton

#14 Ben Sexton

6' 0"
Senior
F
Kevin Tansey

#10 Kevin Tansey

6' 3"
Sophomore
D
Joe Zarbo

#27 Joe Zarbo

6' 0"
Junior
F
Matt Zarbo

#21 Matt Zarbo

6' 1"
Senior
F