In a battle between two of the top teams in the nation, 10th-ranked Clarkson University fell just short against 5th-ranked Quinnipiac 4-2 before 3,028 fans in ECAC Hockey action at Cheel Arena on Friday night.

Clarkson, which suffered just its second home loss of the season (9-2), stands at 17-8 overall and 8-5 in ECAC Hockey. The Golden Knights, who are in fifth place in the standings, just three points shy of first, host Princeton at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Clarkson, felled behind 2-0 to Quinnipiac (19-5-1, 8-4-1) through the opening 20 minutes, but rallied back with a pair of goals to tie the game 2-2 early in the third.

Freshman Chris Klack (Georgetown, ONT) put the Green and Gold on the scoreboard with 2:32 remaining in the middle frame. Klack finished off a nice pass from behind the goal line by classmate Nick Campoli (Toronto, ONT) with a shot from the slot for his second goal of the season. Senior defenseman Aaron Thow (Toronto, ONT) also assisted.

At 3:29 of the third period, the Knights' top two scorers combined on a nice play to make it a 2-2 game. Junior co-captain Nico Sturm (Augsburg, Germany) skated down the left wing and behind the Quinnipiac net, where he fed a pass out front to classmate Haralds Egle (Liepaja, Latvia) at the doorstep, where he tapped in his 12th goal of the season. Junior defenseman Jordan Schneider (Toronto, ONT) also assisted.

Quinnipiac spoiled the Clarkson comeback bid with TJ Friedmann's goal with 2:29 remaining in regulation.

Craig Martin sealed it for the visitors with an empty-net tally with 32 seconds remaining.

Quinnipiac built a 2-0 lead through the opening 20 minutes on late first-period goals from Odeen Tufto and Michael Lombardi.

Clarkson outshot the Bobcats 27-23.

Quinnipiac was 1-of-3 on the power play, while the Knights went scoreless in their three man-advantage chances.