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Clarkson University Athletics

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photo by Schuyler Meyer

Golden Knight Women Return to Play with Weekend in New England

1/8/2020 8:45:00 AM

Back in action for the first time since early December, a recharged Clarkson team will look to pick up where it left off in 2019. The Golden Knights open the New Year with a weekend trip to New England. Clarkson faces off against Yale in New Haven, CT in a 6:00 p.m. game on Friday and then takes on Brown at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday in Providence, RI. 

Both games can be viewed live streamed on ESPN+ (US) and StretchInternet (international).

Ranked 5/6th in the national polls, the Golden Knights enter the New Year with 14-2-4 overall record and are in fourth place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 5-1-2 league mark. The Green and Gold, guided by 12th-year Head Coach Matt Desrosiers, who has recorded 300 career wins, and assistants Britni Smith and Tony Maci, are four points shy of first-place Princeton, but have three games in hand on the Tigers. Clarkson, which swept Rensselaer (5-0) and Union (5-3) in its last action on December 6-7, has won four straight and is unbeaten in its last five games (4-0-1). 

Led by senior Captain Ella Shelton and Assistant Captains, senior Taylor Turnquist and junior Meaghan Hector, the Knights outscored their opponents 17-4 in the last four games of the 2019 portion of the schedule.  
 
• Offensively and defensively, the Green and Gold have been strong. Clarkson is ranked fifth in the nation defensively, allowing just 1.65 goals per game, while scoring 3.40 GPG (8th). 
• Clarkson is fifth in the country in scoring margin (1.75).
• The Knights are ranked 11th on the power play (19.3%, 17-88) and 16th on the penalty kill (85.4%, 70-82).
• Two-time All-American Elizabeth Giguere shows no signs of slowing down in her junior campaign. The right wing is the nation's leading goal scorer with 21 tallies and ranks fifth in the country in points with 35. She has recorded points in 18 of 20 games and goals in 16 games. Giguere is working on a current 15-game point streak (18-11-29) and has tallied goals in each of the last  fives games. Clarkson's third all-time leading scorer, she has amassed 179 points (74-105) through 101 games. Giguere is just two points behind Jamie Lee Rattray '14 (181) and 34 points behind Loren Gabel '19 on the Green and Gold's all-time scoring chart.
• Sophomore Marie-Pier Coulombe ranks among the nation's best goaltenders with a 1.30 GAA (3rd) and a .941 save percentage (4th) en route to an 12-2-3 record.She is is tied for sixth in the country for shutouts with three.
• Left wing Gabrielle David leads the nation's rookies in scoring with 25 points including a NCAA-high 18 assists for freshmen.  She is tied for the second best plus/minus (+17) among rookies.
• Senior center Kayla Friesen has tallied eight points (1-7) over the last five games and three goals and 10 assists over the past nine games. The transfer from St. Cloud State has 20 points (7-13) through 15 games.
• Ella Shelton has six points (2-4) over her past four games on the blueline and 17 points (4-13) in 17 games. She is moving closer to the century mark with 92 career points (21-71) through 136 games.
• Michaela Pejzlova is one assist shy of 100 for her career. The senior center has totaled 161 career points (62-99) in 138 games, including 19 points (6-13) this season.

Series Yale: Clarkson enters the weekend with a 24-6-1 record over Yale and has won nine of the last ten matchups between the two. The Golden Knights have lost just once on home ice against the Bulldogs and have fallen to Yale five times on the road. Last season, the Green and Gold split 5-1 games with Yale as both teams won on their home ice. Traditionally Yale has had trouble scoring against the Knights and has scored three goals or more on only six occasions and has been shut out eight times. Michaela Pejzlova (5-8) and Elizabeth Giguere (6-6) have paced the offensive effort against Yale with each recording double digits points versus the Bulldogs. Marie-Pier Coulombe will look to have a stronger game against Yale then she had a season ago. Coulombe played the first 19:05 in the road matchup stopping six shots and giving up three goals. Coulombe was given the loss in the outing.

Series Brown: Brown won four of the first six matchups in the series, but has not won a game against the Knights since. Clarkson holds a 24-4-3 record over Brown and is unbeaten in the last 24 games (22-0-2) since 2007. The Bears have not scored more than one goal in a game with Clarkson since the 2011-12 season. In the series Brown has scored less than a goal per game while the Green and Gold are averaging four goals per contest. Michaela Pejzlova has produced at nearly a two-points per-game pace against Brown tallying four goals and seven assists in six games. Elizabeth Giguere has the most goals against the Bears with five in four games. Giguere also has four assists in those contests. None of Clarkson's goaltenders have faced Brown. 

Scouting Yale: After going 7-6 in the first semester, Yale ran into the buzz saw that is Minnesota's offense and dropped two games to start the new semester. The Bulldogs have went 4-4 in ECAC play and sit in a tie with Quinnipiac for fifth in the conference standings. Yale has been great at home going 5-1 with their lone loss being against now top-10 ranked Harvard. Yale's struggles have come away from New Haven where they are 1-6 in road games. Part of these struggles can be attributed to the youth that Yale presents. The Bulldog's top-six scorers feature four sophomore skaters and two freshmen. Freshman Elle Hartje (6-9) and sophomore Claire Dalton (5-10) are tied at the top with 15 points apiece for Yale. Emma Seitz has provided some excellent playmaking from the blueline assisting on a team-high 10 goals and has scored three of her own for 13 points. Senior Tera Hofmann has been the primary starter for Yale, but has surrendered six of the team's 15 games to junior Gianna Meloni. Hofmann owns a 5-4-0 record with a 2.14 goals against average and a .888 save percentage and has three shutouts on the year. Meloni is 2-4 in six games and has a 3.14 goals against average and a .884 save percentage. 

Scouting Brown: Brown is looking to put the first semester behind them after posting a 1-11-1 record in the first half. The Bears are 1-6-1 in conference play and are in 11th place in the ECAC ahead of RPI, who has yet to earn a point. Brown has scored more than two goals on only one occasion this season against Merrimack, a game they lost 4-3. The Bears' lone win came in November against RPI where Brown overcame an early goal to win 2-1. Brown only played four home games in the first semester and was 1-2-1 in Providence. The Bears offensive attack leaves much to be desired as no player has reached double digits in points this year. Shay Maloney leads the team in goals (4), assists (4), and points (8) and has the best plus/minus rating at -2. Senior goaltender Calla Isaac has done well with the high volume of shots she has faced posting a .900 save percentage. However, Isaac has a 1-6-0 record on the year with a 4.66 goals against average. Hayley Kliczko has spelled Isaac starting five games and has a 0-4-1 record with a .873 save percentage and a 4.36 goals against average. 
 
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