Owners of four of the past five ECAC Hockey regular-season titles, the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team begins its quest to claim its third consecutive conference crown when it opens league play this weekend. The Golden Knights, guided by 11th-year Head Coach Matt Desrosiers and assistants Britni Smith and Tony Maci, host Union, on Friday at 6:00 p.m., and Rensselaer, on Saturday at 3:00 p.m., at Cheel Arena. 

Ranked third in the national polls, Clarkson has won three straight and stands at 7-1 overall. Last weekend, the Green and Gold swept a home-and-home series with Syracuse, winning 6-2 in Central NY on Friday and skating to a 4-3 overtime triumph in Potsdam on Saturday.

Union-RPI Weekend Series Notes
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USCHO.com Poll
USA Today Poll
Coaches Corner with Mike Vaillancourt

• Clarkson has scored at least four goals in every victory this season and is first in Division I in offense, averaging 4.38 goals per game.
• Clarkson boasts the top line in the NCAA with all three players ranked among the top 5 Division I forwards in the country.
• Senior left wing Loren Gabel, a Top 3 Patty Kazmaier Finalist last year, leads the country in scoring, averaging 2.38 points per game on seven goals and 12 assists through eight games. Gabel is coming off a big weekend against Syracuse when she recorded nine points (2-7) in the weekend sweep. She set a new school record for assists in a game with five helpers and tied the school mark for points in a game (6) in Friday's road victory. Through 130 career games, Gabel has amassed 163 points (83-80) and trails only Cayley Mercer '17 (178 points) and Jamie Lee Rattray '14 (181) on the Knights' all-time scoring list. Gabel will miss this weekend's games as she will be participating with Canadian Women's National Team at the 4 Nation's Cup in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Gabel, as well as recently graduated goalie Shea Tiley '18, will make their first national team appearances in the event, which takes place Nov. 6-10. Also on the roster is former Golden Knight defenseman Renata Fast '16, who played for Canada in the 2018 Winter Olympics. All three Clarkson players will be evaluated at the tournament and be in contention for spots in the 2019 IIHF Women's World Championship event from April 4-14 in Espoo, Finland.
• Sophomore right wing Elizabeth Giguere is third among Division I skaters in points per game 2.00. She has eight goals and eight assists and has tallied at least two points in all but two games this season. Giguere is closing in on the century mark with 87 points (35-52) in 49 career games. 
• Junior center Michaela Pejzlova is fifth in Division I in ppg (1.75), recording five goals and nine assists. Pejzlova was named NCAA 3rd Star of the Week after accumulating seven points in the two wins over Syracuse, including her first career hat trick. She also joined Clarkson's 100-point club over the weekend with 101 (42-59) points through 86 games.
• The top-scoring defenseman in Division I, junior Ella Shelton has tallied two goals and nine assists from the blueline and posts a +12 rating as Clarkson's fourth-leading scorer.
• ECAC Player of the Year in her sophomore campaign (2015-16) at Quinnipiac, graduate transfer T.T. Cianfarano recorded her first two-goal for the Green and Gold with the opening and closing scores in the 4-3 overtime victory against Syracuse. She has nine points (4-5) for the Knights.
• Clarkson's other graduate transfer, Kassidy Sauve has played every minute in the Clarkson goal and posts a .913 save percentage and a 2.25 goals against average along with one shutout.  An All-American at Ohio State, Sauve has a 49-38-9 career record.

Scouting Union:
Union enters its first ECAC matchup with a 2-6-1 record.  The Dutchwomen have a 1-2-1 record on the road. Union only had one game this past weekend, losing 7-0 to Connecticut at Messa Rink on Saturday. Union is led offensively by Arianna Kosakowski who has five points on two goals and three assists. Haley Shugart has been very effective at getting pucks to the net and has a team-high four goals. Coco Francis has started six games for the Dutchwomen and has a 1-4-0 record to go with a 3.41 goals against average and a .883 save percentage.  Amelia Murray has played in five games with four starts, posting a 2.82 GAA with a .918 SP.

Scouting RPI:
The Engineers enter the weekend with a 2-3-2 record and will face its first ECAC contest on Friday at St. Lawrence. After splitting a series with Robert Morris, RPI had a weekend off before playing RIT this past weekend. The Engineers tied the Tigers 1-1 on Friday and took down RIT the following night 3-2. RPI has yet to lose at home this season but is only 1-3-0 in road games. The Engineers are led offensively by Blake Orosz (2-3) and Sabrina Repaci (1-4), who each have a team-leading five points on the year. Only four players have scored for the Engineers this year. RPI has totaled only eight total goals in their seven games. Lovisa Selander has started every game for RPI and has a 2-3-2 record. Selander has been excellent with a 1.41 goals against average and a .959 save percentage.

Series Union:
The Golden Knights lead Union in the all-time series 29-1-0, including 13 straight wins. The Golden Knights have only surrendered 18 goals to Union in the 30 all-time matchups, and have scored 137 over the same stretch. The lone Union win came on the road during the 2011-12 season when Clarkson fell 2-1. The Golden Knights are undefeated at Cheel Arena with a record of 14-0-0. Loren Gabel has done plenty of scoring in her six career games against the Dutchwomen scoring four goals and tallying five assists for nine points. 

Series RPI:
Clarkson has won seven games in a row against RPI and leads the all-time series 23-5-2. The last RPI win came in 2015 when the Golden Knights fell on the road in a 2-1 contest. Clarkson has only lost three times at Cheel Arena against RPI and has a 14-3-0 record in Potsdam. The Golden Knights have had no trouble scoring goals against the Engineers, putting up 112 goals in the 30 matchups and have scored 5+ goals in nine of the contests. Loren Gabel who has scored six goals and added seven assists for 13 points in eight games.