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Clarkson University Athletics

PreGame20
photo by Jim Meagher

Clarkson Men Host Princeton and Quinnipiac

1/7/2020 9:02:00 AM

Although the Golden Knights did not open the New Year with the result they wanted, a weekend split in the first games of 2020 have moved Clarkson into a first-place tie in the ECAC Hockey standings. Ranked 7/8th in the national polls, Clarkson stands at 13-4-2 overall and is tied with Cornell for the top spot in ECAC Hockey, owning 14 points on a 7-2 league mark. The Knights, guided by ninth-year Head Coach Casey Jones, Associate Head Coach Josh Hauge and Assistant Coach Mike Towns, have played one more conference game than the Big Red.

After a 19-day layoff, Clarkson saw its six-game (5-0-1) unbeaten streak come to an end on January 3 with a 3-1 loss to RPI at Cheel Arena. On Saturday, the Green and Gold bounced back, shutting out Union 2-0.

The Knights close out a four-game home stand this weekend hosting Princeton and Quinnipiac in a pair of 7:00 p.m. conference games.

Both games can be viewed live streamed on ESPN+ (US) and StretchInternet (international).
 
• Clarkson continues to rank high in combined specialty teams play at 2nd in the nation (91-157, 58%).
• The Knights are ranked fourth on the penalty kill at 91.2% (73-80). The Green and Gold were a perfect 9-of-9 on the PK over the weekend, shutting down RPI (3-3) and Union (6-6). 
• Clarkson's power play, which was red hot going into the break, clicking for seven goals on 15 man-advantage attempts (46.6%) in the last three games of 2019, stalled in the opening game of the New Year. The Knights went 0-of-7 on Friday against RPI, including a nearly two-minute, two-man advantage early in the game. Clarkson came back the next night with a 1-of-4 effort on the power play against Union. Overall, the Green and Gold are ranked 10th in the nation on the man-advantage, hitting at 23.4% (18-77). 
• Clarkson ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing only 1.79 goals per game. The Knights have allowed more than two goals in a game just once in their past eight outings. That came on Friday against RPI when the Engineers scored a late empty-net goal to earn a 3-1 victory at Cheel.
• Offensively, the Green and Gold are tied for 25th in Division I, averaging 2.89 GPG.
• Frank Marotte has played every minute in the Clarkson goal and is rated among the top goaltenders in the country. The graduate transfer posts a 1.67 goals against average (4th), a .940 save percentage (5th), and a .737 winning percentage (6th) on an 13-4-2 record. Marotte recorded his second shutout as a Golden Knight and 10th career whitewash behind 19 saves in the 2-0 win over Union. He started his Clarkson career with six consecutive 30+ save outings, including a season-high 38-save effort in 4-0 shutout over Wisconsin (ranked sixth in the country at the time) in Madison on October 25. He posted 37 stops in the 2-2 tie at Michigan Tech, including 17 in the third period, Marotte, who starred at Robert Morris the previous three years, has twice been selected ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week (10/14, 11/25) and was named conference Goaltender of the Month for October.
• Five Clarkson players are scoring in double figures, led by Devin Brosseau with 23 points. The Knights' captain, Brosseau is second in the nation in points per game (1.53). He missed the opening weekend of the New Year, recovering from an upper body injury suffered in the 4-2 victory at Michigan Tech (12/14) right before the break. Through 15 games, the left wing has tallied seven goals and 16 assists. Brosseau, a graduate student, has amassed 106 career points (39-67) through 131 games. 
• Senior right wing Haralds Egle scored his team-high eighth goal of the season for the game-winner against Union. The senior right wing is second overall in points for the Green and Gold with 21 (8-13). He has tallied nine points (4-5) over the past six games. Egle was named ECAC Hockey Player of the Month for December. Egle is closing in on the century mark with 94 career points on 38 goals and 56 assists through 122 games.
• Junior defenseman Connor McCarthy paces the Clarkson scoring from the blueline and is the Knights' fifth overall scorer with 12 points on six goals and six assists. McCarthy, who did not score a goal in his freshman campaign, tallied four times last season with three coming on the power play. Five of his six goals this season have come on the man-advantage. His lone even-strength score this season came in Saturday's win over Union when he also registered an assist. McCarthy shares the Clarkson lead in power play goals this season. 
• Freshman center Mathieu Gosselin netted his second goal of the season with the Knights' lone score on Friday against the Engineers to extend a point streak to three games (1-2). He was held off the scoresheet against Union.
• Sophomore center Josh Dunne is third for Clarkson in scoring with 16 points on seven goals and nine assists. He shares the team lead in power-play goal along with McCarthy with five.  The assistant captain has won the most faceoffs for the Green and Gold (182-166,  52.3%). He also shares the Knights' best plus/minus at +8 with Brosseau and sophomore defenseman Michael Underwood. Dunne has 22 blocked shots, the most by a Clarkson forward.
• Zach Tsekos has made a significant impact up front in his first season on the ice with the Golden Knights. The junior transfer, who starred at Sacred Heart (2016-18), has 14 points (5-9), including seven (2-5) in the past seven games. He has won 155 faceoffs.
• Sophomore left wing Chris Klack recorded his first assists of the season with a helper in both games over the weekend. He has tallied two goals. 
• Ten different Knights have accounted for the 13 game-winning goals with Egle, McCarthy and Klack leading the way with two deciding goals.
• Junior forward John Carter MacLean played in his first games of the season over the weekend after missing the first 17 recovering from an injury. He finished with a +1 and one block for the weekend skating on the Knights' checking lines.
• Senior defenseman, assistant captain Jordan Schneider leads Clarkson in block shots with 29, followed by Underwood with 25 and assistant captain, senior defenseman Greg Moro with 24.
• After being outshot in each of their first six games, the Knights have held the shot advantage in 11 of the last 13 games.
• Clarkson is 6-3 in home games and 7-1-2 on the road.

Scouting Princeton
Princeton is striving to climb up the ECAC Hockey standings after a dismal start to the 2019-20 campaign. The Tigers, guided by former Clarkson assistants, Head Coach Ron Fogarty and Associate Head Coach Brad Dexter, started the New Year off with a pair of strong efforts at Hobey Baker Rink over the weekend. On Friday, Princeton fell in overtime 4-3 to Dartmouth before coming back with a 3-3 tie vs. nationally-ranked Harvard. The Tigers stand at 2-11-4 overall and are in 11th place in the league standings with a 0-7-3 conference mark. Princeton is 0-3-1 in its past four games having last won on December 10 with a 2-1 home victory over American International. The Tigers are 1-4-2 in road games.

Scouting Quinnipiac
Quinnipiac travels to the North Country as one of the hottest teams in the nation having won its last five games, while outscoring their opponents 20-7 during their current run.  The Bobcats, who play St. Lawrence in Canton on Friday, own an 11-7-1 overall record and stand in a third-place tie in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 6-3-1 league mark. Quinnipiac skated over Harvard (6-1) and Dartmouth (5-1) in Hamden, CT this past weekend. The Bobcats' last loss was a 3-0 home defeat vs. nationally ranked Massachusetts on November 29. Quinnipiac came back the next night with a 2-1 road victory over the Minutemen. The Bobcats are 3-5-1 in road games.

Vs Princeton - Clarkson holds a decisive 84-34-7 lead in the all-time series against Princeton, which began with an 8-5 Knight victory in New Jersey on January 17, 1928. Clarkson took three of four ECAC Hockey points from Princeton last season. The Knights snapped a four-game winless stretch (0-3-1) against the Tigers with a 3-1 victory at Cheel on February 2 and then skated to a 1-1 tie in New Jersey last February 22. The Tigers took three of four points in the 2017-18 regular season, with their fourth straight win over the Knights at Hobey Baker Rink, a 4-3 triumph on February 3, and a 3-3 tie at Cheel on February 23. Princeton also knocked off the Green and Gold in the 2018 ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship game, 2-1 in overtime in Lake Placid on March 17.  Clarkson holds a slim 5-3-2 advantage in the last 10 meetings. Six of the last nine games between the two have been decided in overtime (2-2-2). The Green and Gold have won more games over Princeton at Cheel than any other opponent going 31-5-1 against the Tigers in the arena since its opening during the 1991-92 season.
Defenseman Greg Moro has a team-high five points in the series with one goal and four assists through seven games. Devin Brosseau has scored a team-high two goals in the series. 

Vs Quinnipiac - Quinnipiac leads the all-time series, which first started with a 4-0 Clarkson win in Northford, CT on February 8, 2000, 16-12-3. The Knights, however are 3-2 in the past five meetings, including a 5-3 win in Hamden, CT in their last game of the series on February 23. The Bobcats defeated the Green and Gold in their first meeting last season, a 4-2 win at Cheel on February 1. The teams split home victories during the 2017-18 campaign with Quinnipiac winning 4-1 and the Knights earning a 4-2 victory. The teams also split in 2016-17 with each winning on the other's home ice. Quinnipiac is one of the few teams in the nation to hold an advantage over Clarkson at Cheel Arena with an 8-6-1 record on the Knights' home ice.
Haralds Egle has tallied a team-high four points (2-2) in the series.
 
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