A memorable trip to Northern Ireland for the Clarkson University Hockey team was capped off by winning the Belpot Trophy of the Friendship Four in Belfast. The Golden Knights defeated #10-ranked Providence 4-2 in the championship game on Saturday at the SSE Arena to become the first ECAC Hockey team to lift the trophy as champions in the three-year history of the tournament. The Knights shut out RPI 2-0 in first-round action on Friday.
With the championship victory fifth-ranked Clarkson extends its winning streak to eight straight to improve to 12-3-1 overall. The Green and Gold close out their seven-game road trip with a non-league game at Canisius in Western NY next Saturday. Holding down first place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 6-0-0 conference mark, the Knights return to league play with a home-and-home series against St. Lawrence on December 8-9 to complete the 2017 portion of the season.
Postgame audio Head Coach Casey Jones
For one of the few times this season, Clarkson did not score the first goal of the game, as Providence (8-5-1) tally the opening goal. The Knights, however, ran off the next four with a different Golden Knight scoring each one to take control of the game.
Clarkson outshot the Friars 25-22 and enjoyed another solid outing on specialty teams to defeat Providence for the second time this season. For the eighth consecutive game the Green and Gold scored a power-play goal, going 1-of-4 with the man-advantage. Clarkson also killed off both of the Friars extra-man chances.
Named player of the tournament, sophomore Jake Kielly (Eden Prairie, MN) posted 20 saves, including eight in the final period when Providence went on a power play late and pulled its goaltender for the extra attacker.
Providence took the initial lead of the contest midway through the first period when Erik Foley collected a puck off the side of the net and fired in a shot off the back of Kielly at 10:16.
Clarkson came out strong in the middle frame and tallied twice to grab a 2-1 lead through 40 minutes.
Sophomore assistant captain Devin Brosseau (St. Lambert, QUE), stationed at the top of the crease, picked up a rebound off a shot from the point by senior defenseman Terrance Amorosa (Kirkland, QUE) and knocked in his fourth goal of the year at 5:58 for a 5-on-3 power-play score.
The Knights took the lead at 12:13 with a tip-in goal by freshman Kevin Charyszyn (Jamison, PA) off a shot from the point by senior defenseman Tyko Karjalainen (Helsinki, Finland). Freshman Josh Dickinson (Georgetown, ONT) started the play by pushing the puck out to the point for Karjalainen.
Clarkson came out even stronger in the third period and added a pair of goals in a span of 1:38 early in the stanza.
Sophomore Nico Sturm (Augsburg, Germany) finished off assists from linemates Brosseau and sophomore Sheldon Rempal (Calgary, ALB) with a nice move in front just 80 seconds into the period for the eventual game-winner. Freshman Grant Cooper (Cornwall, ONT) knocked in a rebound off a shot by senior Marly Quince (Sioux Lookout, ONT) for his second goal of the year at 2:58. Senior defenseman Kelly Summers (Golden Lake, ONT) also assisted.
The Friars got their second goal at 13:18 with Brandon Duhaime finding the back of the net, but Kielly shut down Providence the rest of the way to improve his career record in the month of November to 12-0-2.
