Golden Knights Look to Rebound as North Country Rivalry Opens at St. Lawrence

The Clarkson University Women's Hockey team makes the short trip to Canton today to face St. Lawrence in the opening game of a home-and-home series. Puck drop is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. at Appleton Arena as part of the Saints' School Day Game, giving the North Country rivalry an early start.

Clarkson enters the matchup at 2-2-0, looking to regain momentum after dropping both games at UConn last weekend. The Golden Knights opened the season with a sweep of RIT at Cheel Arena, winning 6-3 and 8-1, before falling 3-2 and 4-0 in Connecticut. Today offers Clarkson an opportunity to earn its first road victory of the season against a familiar opponent.  Clarkson leads the all time series 47-26-11 and is 17-12-4 all time at the historic Appleton Arena.  

The Knights showed their offensive potential during the opening weekend, highlighted by hat tricks from Raedyn Spademan and Jessie Pellerin in the second victory over RIT. At UConn, Kate Manness and Sara Manness scored first-period goals to give Clarkson a 2-0 lead in Friday's opener, but the Huskies answered with three straight goals to take the game.

Despite being shut out in Saturday's rematch, Clarkson generated 43 shots on goal. Turning that pressure into scoring will be a key to getting back into the win column at Appleton. Through four games, the Knights are averaging 38.5 shots and four goals per contest.
Sara Manness, Spademan and Shelby Laidlaw share the team scoring lead with five points apiece. Manness and Spademan each have three goals and two assists, while Laidlaw leads Clarkson with four assists. Pellerin and Layla Matthew follow with four points each, giving the Knights several sources of offense as they prepare for the Saints.  Clarkson will play this weekend's game without the services of forward Sara Manness, who is joining 6 former Golden Knights at the 2026-27 National Women's Team Training Camp in Quebec CIty.  

St. Lawrence brings a 1-3-0 record into the series after earning its first victory last Friday, a 3-0 shutout at Maine. The Saints split that road series following a 4-3 loss in the opener. They began their regular season with two losses to top-ranked Wisconsin, making today another test against a North Country opponent seeking an early-season boost.

The teams finish the series Friday at Cheel Arena, with faceoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Today's game will be aired live on SNY and stream on ESPN+ and ECACHockey.tv