The Knight Report

Couldn’t muster a win in two attempts over at Appleton this year. There’s always the ECAC playoffs!

Podcast here.

The December 1st game at St. Lawrence will be my last Clarkson men’s hockey game covered. Enjoy the podcast and I thank you for listening both last season and this, it has been fun.

Chris

4-2 victory tonight at Cheel Arena.

Podcast here.

Cayer tallies on a smart play by D’Alvise.

Podcast here.

Tim Marks picked up a hat-trick tonight, helping to fuel Clarkson’s comeback against the Big Green.

Podcast here.

Knights return to Cheel and best Harvard 2-1 in first period, holding strong the rest of the way.

Matt Beca and Tim Marks provided the offense while David Leggio, as usual, stood tall in net.

Podcast here.

Between the Red Sox game this evening and the late finish to the Clarkson / St. Lawrence game, the podcast is finally up. Sorry for the delay!

Clarkson looked dead in the water after one period of play Saturday night. The Knights fell behind 3-0 to St. Lawrence after just 19:15 of play before 3,695 fans at Cheel Arena. Clarkson turned the momentum in their favor part way through the second period, however, and fueled a comeback that culminated in an overtime victory.

The Saints struck first with 12:06 remaining in the first period. Junior Kevin DeVergilio got off a shot while falling to the ice and beat senior goalie David Leggio. DeVergilio was able to fire his shot on goal despite being contested by junior defenseman Adam Bellows.

“I thought we played a great seven, eight opening minutes, had some good chances to get the lead, but they came down and made a nice play on a one-on-one where a guy beat him and kind of changed the momentum of the game,” said Clarkson head coach George Roll.

St. Lawrence picked up their second goal just over five minutes later when junior Matt Generous poked the puck past Leggio following a scrum in front of the net.

With forty-five seconds remaining in the opening period, sophomore Alex Curran got in on net on a breakaway after beating junior defenseman Tyrell Mason. The Saints finished the period with an 11-10 advantage in shots and an even larger margin in momentum.

Clarkson was able to redeem one goal in the second period on freshman Tom Pizzo’s first collegiate tally. Pizzo collected a loose puck in the left face-off circle and dispensed the puck just inside the right post, beating sophomore netminder Alex Petizian.

The Knights kept the momentum shift going, opening the third period with a power-play goal to pull themselves to within one. Sophomore Tim Marks, camped out on the right post, collected a pass from classmate Matt Beca to close the margin to 3-2 with 18:14 to play.

“I think the big thing was we didn’t want to think we had to sit on [the lead]. You have to expect a team that good is going to counter, they got some energy going on a couple power plays and that was the difference. They were oh-for on the [power play], you knew eventually that they were going to come out of it, they’re just too good of a power-play team,” said St. Lawrence head coach Joe Marsh.

Despite surrendering three first-period goals, senior goalie David Leggio played a large roll in keeping the Saint’s offense in check the rest of the way. Leggio made a sprawling pad save on freshman Aaron Bogosian halfway through the final frame.

“David made the saves he had to make, especially on the breakaway there when we were on the power play; that was a huge save to give us the momentum to keep it going. He stood tall when we needed him,” said Roll.

Senior Steve Zalewski knotted the contest at 3-3 with 6:47 to play on a St. Lawrence turnover. Zalewski picked up a loose puck between the circles but had his initial shot blocked by Petizian. The assistant captain quickly collected the rebound with a backhand and flipped the puck past Petizian with a forehand attempt.

With 5:19 remaining, following a flurry in front of the net, freshman Lauri Tuohimaa collected his first career goal with a poke past Petizian.

Clarkson looked in control the rest of the way, thwarting any attempt by the Saints to tie the game. With 37.8 seconds on the clock, however, senior Charlie Giffin fired a shot from the point for his third tally of the season to tie the game at four apiece.

St. Lawrence made the first mistake of the overtime session when junior Shawn Fensel was whistled for holding. The Knights capitalized on the opportunity just fifty-one seconds later when Zalewski sent a puck through the crease and junior Chris D’Alvise put the puck home to push Clarkson past their rivals.

“These types of losses, as much as they stink, can really bring a team together. I think you get tighter as a club out of necessity in games like this, maybe more than in wins,” reflected Marsh.

Clarkson, who outshot the Saints 16-6 over the course of the third and overtime period, moved to 3-1-0 on the season overall and 1-0-0 in ECAC play. St. Lawrence, meanwhile, dropped to 2-2-0 on the season and 0-1-0 in Conference play.

St. Lawrence will be traveling 15 minutes down the road this weekend to come visit Clarkson at Cheel Arena. The Knights will be looking to avenge their their early-season 3-2 loss at Appleton.

Clarkson is ranked #7 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today polls heading into this match-up. The Saints, meanwhile, stand at #15 and #13 in the two polls, respectively. The two rivals have played the same teams through three games: each other, UMass, and Providence. Thanks to the Minutemen and their 3-1 victory over St. Lawrence last Saturday, both teams stand at 2-1-0 and this game will open ECAC play.

Who to Watch

St. Lawrence
Look for senior Jordan Hack to pick up his second goal of the season–his other tally came against the Knights to tie their October 7 match-up. There is also a goal-tending question heading into this game as the Saints have put a different goaltender between the pipes in each of their first three games this season–Alex Petizian, Justin Pesony, and Kain Tisi. Petizian stood tall against the Knights at Appleton while it was Tisi who surrendered three against UMass.

Predictions

Clarkson 3, St. Lawrence 1
Two first-period goals propel the Knights past the Saints this weekend. St. Lawrence’s second-period goal is too little too late in an attempt to steal one at Cheel Arena. Senior captain Nick Dodge registers yet another point on an assist to linemate David Cayer. Look for junior Chris D’Alvise to break out of his early-season slump and pick up his first point with his first goal of the season.

Clarkson is still #7 in the USCHO.com poll and has returned to the spot in the USA Today rankings. Clarkson began the season in the seven spot in both polls but slipped to 13 in the USA Today poll when they dropped their opening game to St. Lawrence.

St. Lawrence now stands at #15 and #13 in the USCHO and USA Today polls, respectively, while UMass is #20 and #15.

USCHO rankings | USA Today poll

Clarkson skated past the Friars tonight in a 2-0 victory. Two first-period tallies proved to be all that the Knights would need as their defense–especially David Leggio–stood tall the rest of the way. Clarkson has yet to allow a power play goal this season and looks to open ECACHL play next weekend against St. Lawrence at Cheel Arena.

Post-game podcast here. USCHO game summary here.