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You hear the term more in the month of March and definitely more associated with the sport with the round ball, but for Clarkson playing in the third installment of the Friendship Four in Belfast, survive and advance was certainly an appropriate term.
The No. 5 Golden Knights threw layer after layer of offense at Rensselaer in the opening game of the four-team tournament, but for nearly 57 minutes had just a first-period power-play goal from John Dickinson to show.
Late in the game though, it was Dickinson again, this time on a right-wing rush where the rookie cut to the net and beat Linden Marshall, that meant Clarkson could finally breathe a sigh of relief knowing they had certainly survived and most definitely advanced to Saturday’s championship game, where they will look to become the first ECAC team to take home the Belpot Trophy.
“We did enough to get it done tonight,” said Clarkson coach Casey Jones. “I wish we had scored a little earlier in the game when we had a little puck possession. RPI had a pretty good third period there and had us on our heels a little bit, but overall it was a pretty good effort for us, and we’re excited to move on to the championship game.”
Clarkson will face Providence, a 3-0 winner over Maine, in a battle of two top 10 teams in Saturday’s title game. The two clubs met in October in Potsdam with the Golden Knights walking away with a 4-0 victory.
Friday’s semifinal was a rematch in its own right as Clarkson earned a 6-0 home win against RPI back on November 3. Much of Friday’s game mimicked the earlier battle except the score.
Holding a 39-17 advantage in the earlier meeting, the Golden Knights again had a decided shot advantage, 34-22, on Friday. The difference, though, was in goal.
Marshall (32 saves) earned Friday’s start after Chase Perry was pulled in the early November game. On Friday, the rookie comported himself well and nearly gave his team the opportunity to survive.
He was tested most in the opening 40 minutes when Clarkson held a 25-9 shot advantage, and his ability to keep it a one-goal game gave the Engineers hope in the third period when they turned the tables and held a 13-8 advantage in shots.
It was the third, though, that was the time to shine for Clarkson netminder Jake Kielly, who made 22 saves and earned his second shutout of the year against RPI and fourth overall.
“I thought we got a little bit better as the game went on,” said RPI coach David Smith. “We just kept resetting after each period. I liked our push back. We just weren’t able to find the back of the net.”
The win for Clarkson extends its win streak to seven games, having not lost since getting swept in a two-game series at Minnesota in the final weekend of October.
“We came out of the Minnesota series disappointed because we had some injuries and didn’t have our depth,” said Jones. “We wanted to make a statement that weekend, but we came back and said, ‘Hey, let’s move on.’ That first month of the season certainly has made us better in the second month.”
Providence 3, Maine 0
Two goals by Ryan Tait sandwiched around a Brian Pinho power play tally combined with a 24-save shutout by Hayden Hawkey was more than enough to send Providence past Maine, 3-0, in the nightcap from Belfast.
Similar to the opener, though, the win was hardly easy.
The 10th-ranked Friars found themselves in a scoreless game late in the second period before Bryan Lemos took matters into his own hands. Digging a puck out of the right corner, he wheeled in back of the net and wrapped around a shot that Tait redirected for the 1-0 lead.
“Scoring the goal got our feet going a little bit,” said Providence coach Nate Leaman. “I thought we started working.”
Despite that fact, the game remained 1-0 until the midway point in the third, when penalties did in the Black Bears.
The Friars power play moved the puck around before finding captain Brian Pinho. With Brandon Duhaime setting a screen and drawing two defenders in front of Maine netminder Jeremy Swayman (34 saves), Pinho fired inside the left post to give his team breathing room.
If Maine had any hopes of a comeback, they were erased late when Rob Michel took a major penalty for high sticking with just 4:20 remaining, placing the Black Bears on the penalty kill for the balance of the game.
Maine coach Red Gendron pulled his goaltender with 2:12 left and an offensive-zone draw but that went for naught. The Friars – on what seemed like a designed play – won the draw and fired the puck the length of the ice off the end boards and right to the stick of Tait who tapped it into the empty net for the 3-0 final.
For Gendron and his Black Bears, he understands his team simply didn’t score when the chances presented themselves.
“Bottom line is when we had chances to score, we needed to covert,” said Gendron, “and we didn’t.
“At the end of the day you have to score at least one to win any night. We didn’t finish our chances.”
Providence will look to become the third Hockey East team to capture the Belpot Trophy joining UMass Lowell (2015) and Vermont (2016).
