After a rough weekend on the road, the Clarkson Univesity Women’s Hockey team returns to Cheel Arena this Saturday and Sunday with a non-league series against the University of Vermont from Hockey East. The Golden Knights, guided by third-year co-head coaches Matt and Shannon Desrosiers and assistant coach Matt Kelly, own a 5-8-2 overall record and are 0-4, all road games, against Hockey East competition.

Clarkson saw its prefect mark in ECAC Hockey play come to an end this past weekend as the Green and Gold managed to gain just one point in New England. On Friday in Providence, RI, the Knights held a 1-0 lead late at Brown before the Bears evened the score with an extra attacker goal in the final 22 seconds of regulation. On Saturday, Clarkson, once again held a third-period lead before Yale rallied back to tie the game 2-2 midway through the period, and then tallied the deciding goal in overtime for the 3-2 victory in New Haven, CT.

The Knights close out the 2010 portion of the schedule at league foes Colgate and Cornell on December 3-4 before returning to play on January 7-8 when they host Princeton and Quinnipiac to resume ECAC Hockey action. Clarkson is 3-3-1 at Cheel Arena this season.

Senior Melissa Waldie (Newmarket, ONT) and junior Juana Baribeau (Amos, QUE) lead Clarkson in scoring with eight points apiece. Waldie has a team-high five goals and has recorded 105 career points (57-48) through 127 games. Baribeau, who shares the team lead in assists with five, is looking to become the next Golden Knight to reach the century mark with 78 career points (39-39) through 91 career games. Freshman Jamie Lee Rattray, (Kanata, ONT) who tallied her first collegiate goalover the weekend, also has five assists, and is one of three Knights with six points.

Freshman Erica Howe (Ottawa, ONT) has started the last three games in the Clarkson goal and posts a .933 save percentage, a 1.62 goals against average and a 2-2-1 record through eight games.Senior Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY) has started 10 games and holds a .915 save percentage, a 2.68 goals against average and a 3-6-1 record.

Vermont, which hosted St. Lawrence on Tuesday, is struggling this season with just one win entering the week. With a little luck, the Catamounts could have a winning record having already skated to seven ties on the year. Overall, Vermont stands at 1-5-7 and 0-5-4 in Hockey East as of November 20. After battling to three consecutive ties on the road against Top-10 ranked foes Boston College and Boston University, the Catamounts were shutout by Connecticut, 2-0 at Gutterson Fieldhouse this past Saturday.

Celeste Doucet leads UVM in scoring with seven points on three goals and four assists. Roxanne Douville has played nine games in the Cats’ goal and posts a .938 save percentage and a 1.92 GAA en route to a 1-3-5 record. Kelci Lanthier has started four games and holds a .935 save percentage, a 2.16 GAA and a 0-2-2 record.

Clarkson leads the overall series 12-1-1, but Vermont won the last meeting 4-1 in Burlington on October 17 of last season.