With a strong penalty kill, solid play from freshman goaltender Jake Kielly and timely scoring the Clarkson University hockey team gained a hard earned victory over 15th-ranked Union College, defeating the Dutchmen 3-1 at Messa Rink in Schenectady on Saturday night to finish off a weekend sweep in NY’s Capital District region.
The Golden Knights, who skated past Rensselaer 5-2 in Troy on Friday, move above the .500 mark with a 6-5-1 overall record and stand at 3-1 in ECAC Hockey play. Clarkson has now defeated Rensselaer and Union in back-to-back seasons on the road. The Green and Gold are 4-0-1 on the road this season. Clarkson returns home to Cheel Arena to host Brown and Yale next weekend.
Postgame audio Head Coach Casey Jones
Making his second consecutive start after missing last weekend with an illness, Kielly posted 36 saves and played a key role in the Knights’ killing off nine of Union’s 10 power-play chances. Clarkson was 0-of-3 with the man advantage. Benefiting from the lopsided power-play opportunities, the Dutchmen outshot Clarkson 37-29.
Clarkson, with goals from freshman Nico Sturm, junior assistant captain Brett Gervais and senior A.J. Fossen, never trailed against Union (8-3-2, 4-1-1) taking a 3-0 lead through 40 minutes of play.
Riding high after the convincing win at RPI the night before, the Knights came out strong against the Dutchmen and jumped out to a 2-0 lead before the game was 10 minutes old.
Just 64 seconds after the opening faceoff, Clarkson’s Freshmen Line gave the Knights the early jump. Sturm scored his second goal of the weekend, converting a pass out front from Devin Brosseau, who recorded his team-high ninth assist of the season. Sheldon Rempal also assisted.
At 7:10, in a 4-on-4 situation, Gervais picked up a puck at the blueline, skated down the right boards, behind the net and stuffed in a wraparound shot for his second goal of the season. Rempal picked up the assist.
After killing off four straight Dutchmen power-plays in the second period, the Green and Gold built their lead to 3-0 late in the stanza. With 47 seconds remaining in the middle frame, Fossen, positioned between the circles, deflected in a shot from senior defenseman, captain James de Haas for his third goal of the season. Rempal recorded his third assist of the night.
Skating on its seven man-advantage opportunity of the night, Union finally got on the scoreboard when Brett Supinski tallied on power-play goal just 27 seconds into the third period.
That would be it, however, for the league-leading Dutchmen as the Knights held off the home team to hand Union its first loss of the season in ECAC Hockey play.
