A three-goal, third period capped off a solid road victory over a long-time rival as Clarkson University Hockey defeated Rensselaer 5-2 before 3,466 fans at Houston Field House in Troy, NY on Friday night.
Winners of two straight, the Golden Knights improve to .500 overall at 5-5-1 and to 2-1 in ECAC Hockey. Clarkson battles 15/16th-ranked Union in Schenectady on Saturday.
Clarkson showed its balance and depth in the win at Rensselaer (2-7-1, 1-4-0) with five different goal scorers and nine Knights recording at least one point. Senior Troy Josephs and freshmen Nico Sturm and Haralds Egle recorded one goal and one assist apiece, while sophomore Juho Jokiharju tallied three assists to highlight the Green and Gold’s most productive offensive outing of the season.
The Knights outshot the Engineers 40-24 and really took over the final 40 minutes with a 33-14 shot advantage combined over the second and third periods.
Freshman goaltender Jake Kielly, who missed last weekend with an illness, posted 22 saves as Clarkson extended its unbeaten streak over RPI at Houston Field House to four games, including two straight wins.
Junior defenseman Terrance Amorosa, playing in his second game of the season, gave Clarkson the early lead with a power-play blast from the right circle at 5:04. Jokiharju and Sturm assisted.
RPI evened the score at 11:13 when Brady Wiffen capitalized on a Clarkson turnover in its own end.
Midway through the middle frame the Green and Gold regained the lead as junior defenseman Tyko Karjalainen finished off beautiful pass from senior Jordan Boucher at 11:37. Sophomore Aaron Thow recorded the secondary assist.
With just 31 seconds remaining in the period, Jared Wilson tied the score for the home team, connecting on a 5×3 power play, making it a 2-2 game through 40 minutes.
Clarkson continued to build upon its strong play in the second period and dominated play in the third. The Knights wasted little time in taking the lead for good with a pair of goals under four minutes apart early in the stanza.
Josephs came through with the deciding goal at 3:06, knocking in a rebound in front after Egle and Jokiharju forced a RPI turnover.
With his first goal as a Golden Knight, Sturm made 4-2 at 6:50, after he found a loose puck at the top of the crease and scored during a scramble in front. Jokiharju picked up his third assist of the night to become the first Knight to record three assists in a game since Matt Zarbo achieved the feat with three helpers in the 5-1 win at harvard on January 25, 2013. Freshman Devin Brosseau also assisted on Sturm’s goal.
Egle closed out the scoring with his second tally of the year, finishing off a great pass out front by Josephs at 15:09.
Clarkson was 1-of-5 on the power play and killed off six of RPI’s seven man-advantage opportunities.
