Knights Cruise Past Ottawa University 5-2 in Opening Exhibition

Men's Hockey | 10/3/2026 6:59:00 PM

Potsdam, NY – Two goals while 4-on-4 and another on the power play in the opening period allowed the Clarkson University Men's Hockey team to claim a 5-2 victory in exhibition play against Ottawa University on Saturday afternoon.

The Golden Knights open up the regular season next weekend on the road, taking on UMass-Lowell on Friday and then facing Providence College on Saturday evening.

The first goal of the game came in the middle of the period as Ottawa cleared its defensive zone, but could not maintain possession near center ice, as Remi Gelinas picked up a loose puck for a breakaway against the goalie, going to his backhand to make it 1-0 at 7:29 while the two teams were skating 4-on-4.

Barely a minute later, Clarkson scored again while skating on the 4-on-4, as Luka Sukovic gained possession out of the corner, skated behind the net and found Axel Dufresne for a one-timer in the left circle at 8:35.

The Knights added another goal in the first period, once again as Ottawa had only four players on the ice, though this time the Green and Gold were on the power play. The puck made its way around the perimeter and was worked down for Justin Cote at the left circle. Cote flipped a puck towards the goal with Hayden Reid crashing the net. Reid was able to knock the puck in during the scrum in front, with assists going to Cote and Owen Van Steensel.

Clarkson extended its lead to four goals early on in the second period on a nice play from Jace Letourneau. Ottawa was trying to flip the puck out of the zone, but Letourneau caught the puck and dropped it to his stick. After the puck flipped to Shawn O'Connell, it went back to Letourneau, and he found senior transfer Michael Craig skating into the slot for a one-timer at 6:24, making it 4-0.

About six minutes later the Knights picked up another score off a quick transition from the opposite end following a faceoff. Clarkson quickly came up ice with a shot from Hayden Reid near the top of the left circle. The Ottawa goalkeeper made a stop, but couldn't hold on to the puck, and in the scrum in front, Conyr Hellyer picked up the loose change for the score at 12:20.

Ottawa University responded with a goal less than a minute later on an impressive individual display from Nicolas Bilodeau. He won the race to the puck in his own defensive end then skated through traffic up ice, faking a shot to make a defender commit, and then wristed a shot from the left circle at 13:10, recording the goal unassisted.

Ottawa added a second goal to its tally at 4:48 in the third period when the puck kicked loose along the Clarkson side bench and created a race in open ice. Ty Hipkin won the sprint and rattled a puck off the left post and in to make it 5-2.

Late in the game, a fracas began when Mael St. Denis was cross-checked in the collarbone, eventually sending numerous players from both sides to the penalty box. The teams did not score with reduced players on the ice.

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