Photo courtesy Quinnipiac Athletics
By Matt McAuliffe
A game that was anticipated as a tight, low scoring, goalie battle, turned into a 3 goal margin of victory for the Clarkson Gold Knights against a talented Quinnipiac defense. Clarkson returned to the High Point Solutions Arena, the same building they knocked Quinnipiac out of the NCAA Tournament, and gained another victory. This time the margin of victory was larger than just 1-0—Clarkson defeated the Bobcats by a score of 4-1 in front of an energized Quinnipiac fan base.
“As expected, Clarkson came ready to play, we gave them a little bit of space, and they took it, they are a good hockey team, we are in a great hockey league, and we know it is going to be a battle day in and day out”, head coach Cass Turner said.
Though Quinnipiac was coming off a 12 goal weekend beating Yale 4-1, and Brown 8-0, the offense failed show up against Clarkson. The team only scored one goal and was only able to tally 16 shots on net, barely challenging one of the top goaltenders in the ECAC, Shea Tiley.
“We have a lot of people who can put points up on this team, it’s me and my line we got to set the tempo a little more, and that is something we need moving forward to get the teams confidence up”, senior captain Emma Woods said.
The first period of the game was as expected, Clarkson only getting three shots on goal, and Quinnipiac only getting four. The second period is where the scoring opened up. Clarkson struck first as sophomore defensemen Josiane Pozzebon scored on a power play. Clarkson would score two more times; one goal was scored from the red line. Corie Jacobson simply cleared the puck toward the net from the red line, the puck took a bad hop and went right between Rossman’s legs.
“Sydney is a great goaltender and whenever she doesn’t play at her best, she always rebounds and plays a great hockey game, she is very consistent, and I expect her to be that consistent goalie tomorrow,” Turner said.
The number of goals put up by Clarkson was not the only surprise, as freshman forward Sarah Coutu-Godbout made her collegiate debut on the second line. This spot started her over sophomore forward Kenzie Lancaster, who recently just scored her first two collegiate goals last weekend, But Coutu-Godbout looked smooth with the puck and was quick on her feet.
“Sarah is an outstanding player, she is very skilled, she played on the Canadian national team, she is someone who I think we are going to rely on in future to make big plays for us,” Turner said.
A positive that came from the Bobcat’s offense was that freshman defenseman Kati Tabin scored her first collegiate goal at the half way point of the third period. The goal cut the Clarkson lead to two goals making the score 3-1.
“Kati Tabin has a ton of poise with the puck, the game seems to slow down when she has it, she sees things in such a great way, she’s been an offensive defensemen at other levels, and I know she will become that at our level,” Turner said.
After a disappointing loss in front of an energized crowd, the Bobcat’s have little time to reflect on this loss, since they play St. Lawrence Saturday at 3 p.m. at the High Point Solutions Arena. St. Lawrence is currently the seventh best team in the nation and tied for first in the ECAC, and will be looking to improve to 4-0 in ECAC play with a win against Quinnipiac.
