Clarkson erases men's hockey's ECAC hopes with opening-round sweep

As junior forward Shane Campbell won the faceoff and fired a shot past Clarkson goalie Karl Mattson to give the men's hockey team a 2-0 lead with three minutes, 30 seconds left in the first period, it looked as if the Golden Knights' streak was coming to an end.

However, Clarkson, winner of 15 consecutive home playoff games, would not be stopped last weekend by the Tigers. The Golden Knights (17-15-3 overall, 9-8-3 Eastern College Athletic Conference) rallied from that 2-0 deficit to take the first game, 3-2, and then came back the next night to beat Princeton, 2-1, to sweep the first-round ECAC series and end the Tigers' season.

Princeton dominated the first period of the first game, peppering Mattson with 14 shots and only forcing its own netminder, sophomore Dave Stath-os, to stop six of Clarkson's offerings.

Sophomore forward Dave Bennett scored the first goal for Princeton (10-16-4, 8-9-4) only 1:45 into the game on a shot from the top of the crease after being fed from behind the net by fellow sophomore forward David Del Monte. Campbell added his power play tally to make it 2-0 at the end of the first.

The second period, however, was a 180-degree turnaround as the Tigers were the ones who seemed tentative. After 12 minutes in which Stathos made several incredible saves, Clarkson's Murray Kuntz finally broke through with a power-play goal to get the Golden Knights within one.

"Since [senior defenseman] Darren [Yopyk] wasn't back on defense, we relied on some younger guys," junior forward Chris Corrinet said. "They did a great job, but it's tough not having a guy with so much experience back there."

Four minutes later, Clarkson's offensive star Erik Cole scored the 51st goal of his college career to tie the score at 2-2 and leave the momentum squarely in the home team's favor.

"A player like Cole is going to get his chances, we just have to play him as tight as we can," Bennett said.

That momentum carried into the third period as a partisan Cheel Arena crowd of 1,878 cheered as Golden Knight forward Matt Poapst knocked home the rebound of Yan Turgeon's shot to give Clarkson a 3-2 lead that Mattson would protect with seven solid third period saves. Mattson finished the night with 24 saves and Stathos stopped 26 shots.

"It deflated us a little when they came back from our 2-0 lead in the first game," Corrinet said. "I don't think it really kept us from giving a good effort on Saturday, but that was tough."

The next night the second period would again prove decisive as the Tigers took the lead once again early and were then sunk by two Clarkson goals.

Corrinet scored the first goal of the game three minutes into the second period on a pass from sophomore forward Rob Chisholm to put the Tigers ahead 1-0, but Princeton would once again be unable to hold onto its early lead.

Get the best of ‘the Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"At their own rink Clarkson can be really explosive," Bennett said. "When they get the fans behind them, they can score some goals."

Cole again struck with a one-timer five minutes later to tie the score at 1-1. Stathos again shined, making 35 saves on the night, but was unable to keep the Tigers alive as forward David Evans scored the game-winner 17 minutes into the second period.

Both teams would continue to attack the net, but Princeton was only able to get 20 shots off on Mattson, including only five in the third period. This was the first time Princeton had lost its first-round series and failed to reach the ECAC final five in the last four years.

"It was a tough ending losing the Ivy title and home ice for the playoffs at Cornell and then having such a close series at Clarkson, but I think we played a solid season," Bennett said.