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Class2020

Senior Day Highlights Big Weekend at Cheel for Clarkson Women

2/12/2020 11:44:00 AM

A  big weekend of ECAC Hockey play closes out regular-season action at Cheel Arena for Clarkson, which is striving to lock up a top four spot in the conference standings.  With four games left before the postseason party begins, the Golden Knights own an 11-3-4 league mark and hold down third place in the 12-team pack, three points shy of second and four points in front of fifth-place Yale.  Ranked sixth in the national polls, Clarkson has reached the 20-win mark for the ninth consecutive season with a 20-4-6 overall record. 

Guided by 12th-year Head Coach Matt Desrosiers and assistants Britni Smith and Tony Maci, the Green and Gold battle against nationally ranked Quinnipiac and Princeton this weekend. On Friday, Clarkson takes on the 10th-ranked Bobcats at 6:00 p.m., followed by Saturday's Senior Day contest at 3:00 p.m. against the fifth-ranked Tigers, who are just ahead of the Knights in the league standings. 

Clarkson, which is undefeated at home this season with a 12-0-2 mark at Cheel, is coming off a shutout sweep last weekend in Potsdam over Brown (5-0) and Yale (2-0).
 
• Clarkson is one win away from compiling 400 victories. In their 17th year as a Division I program, the Knights have posted a 399-171-67 all-time record since the 2003-04 campaign.  
• Clarkson will recognized the Class of 2020 this Saturday on Senior Day and all they have done for the program and the University. Clarkson's Class of 2020 has helped to lead the program to overwhelming success during their careers wearing the Green and Gold. Seniors, captain Ella Shelton, assistant captain Taylor Turnquist, Katherine Beaumier, Kayla Friesen, Michaela Pejzlova and graduate student Rhyen McGill have played a leading role in solidifying Clarkson's reputation as one of the elite programs in Women's Hockey.
• Entering the weekend, the seniors, have amassed 118 victories, including 65 ECAC Hockey triumphs, and a .816 winning percentage.  The Class of 2020 has been nearly unbeatable at home with 66 victories and a .890 win percentage at Cheel. The playoffs is where the seniors have really excelled, helping the Knights to a phenomenal .950 winning percentage on a 19-1 postseason record. The Class of 2020 has claimed two conference regular-season titles, three ECAC Hockey Championships, made three Frozen Four showings and skated away with a pair of NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP trophies!
• Clarkson is ranked third nationally in defense, allowing only 1.47 gpg, and 8th offensively, 3.23 gpg.
• Selected ECAC Hockey Goaltender of the Week for the second straight week, Marie-Pier Coulombe, who also earned NCAA 3rd Star of the Week, has been very impressive in the Clarkson crease since seizing the the number one role on November 8 and starting the last 20 games. The sophomore ranks among the nation's the top three goaltenders in save percentage (.948) and GAA (1.19) through 27 games. She combined for 47 saves in Clarkson's two shutouts over the weekend.
• Elizabeth Giguere is closing in on 200 career points as she nears the end of the regular-season of her junior campaign. ECAC Hockey's leading scorer and ECAC Player of the Month for January and November, Giguere has amassed 198 career points (80-118) through just 111 games (1.78 ppg). She has 54 points on a nation-high 27 goals in 30 games this year. 
• The Knights are 18-0-1 when leading through two periods.
• Clarkson is 15-1-3 when scoring first.


Series Quinnipiac: Clarkson leads Quinnipiac in their all-time series 25-11-6 and is currently on a 6-game unbeaten streak (4-0-2). Although it is a regular season game, there will be a playoff vibe in Cheel Arena with important points on the line. The Golden Knights and Bobcats are no strangers to big games as the two teams have played eight postseason games in their history with Clarkson going 5-3. During the 2014-15 season Clarkson lost four games to Quinnipiac, their longest losing streak in the series, but bounced back in recent years going 7-2-2 since. In the first matchup this season the Knights fought to a 2-2 tie with Quinnipiac on the road. Elizabeth Giguere has only played the Bobcats seven times but already has a team high 12 points on four goals and eight assists. Michaela Pejzlova (2-6-8) is the only other skater with more than two points against Quinnipiac. Marie-Pier Coulombe played well in her first action against the Bobcats stopping 22 shots in 65 minutes of action to earn the tie. 

Series Princeton: Entering the weekend the Golden Knights hold a 19-14-2 edge over Princeton in the all-time series. In the first four seasons of the series the Tigers dominated to the tune of an 8-2-1 record, but are only 6-17-1 since. During that span Clarkson went on winning streaks of three, four, and eight games. Clarkson is facing a different team nowadays as Princeton has joined the nation's elite and has beat the Golden Knights twice in the last four games. The Tiger's 2-0 win during the 2017-18 season broke an eight-game losing streak to Clarkson. Elizabeth Giguere has been a playmaker against Princeton during her career tallying six assists and scoring a goal for seven points. Michaela Pejzlova has scored four times against the Tigers and has two helpers for six points. In the first matchup in New Jersey two Sarah Fillier goals proved to be too much to overcome as Clarkson fell 2-1. Despite taking the loss, Marie-Pier Coulombe was stellar in the first game against Princeton stopping 45 shots to give the Golden Knights a chance to comeback from a two-goal deficit.

Scouting Quinnipiac: With the season winding down Quinnipiac holds a 17-10-3 overall record and a 9-7-2 conference mark. The Bobcats have 20 points and are five points behind Harvard for a top-4 spot. Quinnipiac has been streaky this semester sandwiching a three-game losing skid between two four-game winning streaks. No one can blame them, however, as the recent three-game skid came against top-10 opponents. The Bobcats are 2-6-1 against top-10 foes which has played a big role in their middle-of-the-pack positioning. Quinnipiac has been good at home with an 8-4-2 record, but are barely above .500 on the road with a 7-6-1 mark. The Bobcats lost their three top point producers to graduation last year, but appear to be in capable hands going into the future. Sophomore Lexie Adzija has been tremendous this year scoring 11 goals and tallying a team-high 16 assists. Adzija has already eclipsed the 25 points tallied by their leading scorer last year. Sarah-Eve Coutu-Godbout has scored a team-high 12 goals and has seven assists on the year. Senior Abbie Ives who is closing in on 100 career games, has done well to cement her legacy at Quinnipiac. Ives has started 26 games this year and has a 14-9-3 record to go with a .931 save percentage and a 1.76 goals against average and three shutouts. 

Scouting Princeton: Princeton has joined the nation's elite securing an impressive 19-4-1 record to this point and is 14-3-1 in league play. Despite being one of the best teams in the country the Tigers are four points behind undefeated Cornell who looks unlikely to fall the rest of the way. All but one of Princeton's losses came against teams who weren't top-10 at the time. Harvard, who took down the Tigers early in the year, would eventually join the ranks. Princeton is 11-2-0 at home and is 7-1-1 on the road. The main reason for the team's resurgence over the past two years is due to the arrival of the 2022 class led by Sarah Fillier and Maggie Connors. Fillier, who dropped 57 points in her freshman campaign, has a team-leading 42 points on 15 goals and 27 assists. Connors has 34 points this year, nine points shy of her 2018-19 mark. Senior Carly Bullock who has had a spectacular career at Princeton has 20 goals to lead the squad and has 16 assists. Like most top-10 teams the Tigers have gotten great goaltending all year as the three have combined for a 1.83 goals against average and a .920 save percentage. Senior Steph Neatby has started 12 games this year going 9-2-1 with a .912 save percentage and a 2.30 goals against average. Rachel McQuigge, sister of Clarkson freshman Brooke McQuigge, is 7-2-0 in nine starts and has a .930 save percentage and a 1.47 goals against average. 
 
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