Coming off its most successful season ever, the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team is expected to once again challenge for one of the top spots in ECAC Hockey this season. The Golden Knights, guided by third-year co-head coaches Shannon and Matt Desrosiers and assistant coach Matt Kelly, are picked to place second in the 12-team conference, according to voting by the league coaches in the ECAC Preseason Poll.

Clarkson received a total of 105 points, including one first-place vote. Cornell University is the coaches’ preseason choice to win the ECAC Regular Season title, garnering 121 points and 11 first-place votes.  The Big Red edged out Clarkson last year for conference supremacy, winning the league regular-season title by three points over the Knights, and by claiming the ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship with a 4-3 overtime victory against the Green and Gold. 

The Golden Knights, led by senior captain Courtney Olson (Brunswick, GA), will open the season on Friday, September 24 by hosting Bluewater PWHL in an exhibition contest at Cheel Arena beginning at 7:00 pm. The 2009-10 campaign officially begins on October 1-2 when the Green and Gold host the University of Minnesota in a rematch of last year’s NCAA quarterfinal series. 

ECAC Hockey play begins on Friday, October 29 with Clarkson hosting Union College.  

Last season, Clarkson skated to a 23-12-5 overall record and finished second in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 14-5-3 league mark.

ECAC WOMEN'S HOCKEY PRESEASON POLL

1st Place votes in ( )Pts

1. Cornell (11) 121

2. CLARKSON (1) 105

3. Harvard 103

4. Quinnipiac 79

5. St. Lawrence 77

6. Princeton 73

7. Rensselaer 70

8. Dartmouth 52

9. Colgate 43

10. Yale 34

11. Brown 24

12. Union 11