Courtesy Vermont Sports Information
POTSDAM, N.Y. –– The tenth-ranked Clarkson Golden Knights (2-0-1, 0-0-0 ECAC) tallied the game’s final two goals to take a 3-2 win over the Vermont Catamounts (0-1-0, 0-0-0 HEAM) Friday night at Cheel Arena.
COACH’S QUOTE
“I thought it was a good team effort; I thought everybody from the back end all the way through our lineup battled hard, it was a hard-fought college hockey game.” head coach Kevin Sneddon said. “Clarkson was going to play pretty physical, I think you could see it on a lot of our plays at the net, they were just a little bit stronger.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
A scoreless opening period saw action on both ends of the ice and power play chances for both sides.
Senior Stefanos Lekkas (29 saves) made the best save of his night six minutes into the second period. He trapped an in-tight deflection between his body and right arm for the whistle.
The Golden Knights broke the deadlock in the waning moments of their second power play chance in the middle frame. Junior Zach Tsekos found a rebound on the far post and fired the quick shot past Lekkas.
Joey Cipollone tied the game at 1-1 at 12:58 of the second period. He blasted a one-timer from the top of the left wing circle under Frank Marotte (31 saves) on a feed from freshman Andrew Lucas.
Early in the third, Christian Evers drove with the puck down the left wing board and fired a shot on Marotte, who made the initial save. Evers picked up his rebound near the goal line and cut to the slot and buried the shot as he fell to the ice.
Clarkson tied the game with 9:50 to play in regulation and Tsekos sent a bouncing puck to the front of the net that found its way over the goal line.
Tsekos completed the hat trick with 4:45 to play on a Golden Knight 2-on-1, beating Lekkas with a shot from the left slot.
Vermont pressured Clarkson looking for the equalizer, but came up short. A scrum in front of the UVM cage with 1:24 to play resulted in Clarkson sophomore Anthony Callin receiving a five-minute major and game misconduct for spearing.
GAME NOTES
Vermont was 0-for-3 on the power play while Clarkson was 1-for-2 on the man-advantage.
The Catamounts held a 33-32 edge on shots, including 15 shots in the third period.
Vermont struggled at the dot, winning just 34-of-79 draws. Lodermeier went 12-for-21 and DeRoche went 7-for-10 on faceoffs.
A quartet of freshmen, Bouquot, Lucas, William Lemay, and Riley McCutcheon made their collegiate debuts at Cheel Arena. Lucas and Bouqout earned their first collegiate points on the season’s first goal.
UP NEXT
Vermont concludes its trip to the North Country with a matchup against the St. Lawrence Saints (1-2-0, 0-0-0 ECAC) tomorrow night. The game is slated to begin at 7 p.m. and will be played at Roos House Arena on the campus of SUNY Canton due to the ongoing renovations at Appleton Arena.