First-semester action comes to a close in a big way this weekend for Clarkson University as the Golden Knights battle archrival St. Lawrence in a North Country home-and-home series. Clarkson faces off against the Saints at Appleton Arena in Canton on Friday and then hosts St. Lawrence at Cheel Arena on Saturday.

Guided by eighth-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Josh Hauge and Brent Brekke, the Knights stand at 8-5 overall and are in a three-way tie for ninth place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 2-2 league mark. Having played just four conference games, Clarkson and St. Lawrence have plenty of opportunity to move up in the standings. The Knights are eight points out of first placed, but have four games in hand on league-leader Quinnipiac.

This past weekend at Cheel, the Green and Gold put on a balanced offensive display in Friday's 5-1 victory over Brown, but saw their win streak end at four games on Saturday, coming up short in a defensive battled against Yale, falling to the Bulldogs 2-1.

• In the overall series between the North Country rivals, which began in the 1925-26 campaign, the Golden Knights hold an overwhelming 126-71-11 lead. Clarkson won its fourth straight over the Saints just two weeks ago, 6-2 in non-league action at the Thanksgiving Faceoff in Lake Placid. The Green and Gold took both games from St. Lawrence last season, winning 3-1 at Cheel Arena and 4-2 at Appleton Arena on December 8-9. St. Lawrence's last win was a 3-1 victory in Canton on December 9, 2016. The Saints' last win in Potsdam came on January 31, 2015 (2-1).

• Clarkson's defensive effort ranks 12th in the NCAA, allowing only 2.23 goals per game (second lowest overall average in ECAC Hockey).

• Offensively, the Knights are averaging 3.38 goals per game, 12 in the NCAA (third best overall in ECAC Hockey).

• The Knights' scoring margin is also 12th in the NCAA at 1.15 (second best overall in ECAC Hockey).

• Clarkson began the season by scoring the opening goal in each of the first 12 games. The streak ended on Saturday when Yale scored 72 seconds into the game.

• The Knights are 8-0-0 when leading after two periods. Since the 2015-16 campaign, Clarkson is 54-5-6 when leading through 40 minutes.

• Six different Knights accounted for Clarkson's six goals over the weekend.

• Junior Haralds Egle moved into a tied for the Knights' scoring lead after putting up four points on the weekend. The right wing equaled his career high for assists in a game by setting up three scores in Friday's win over Brown. He followed on Saturday with his sixth goal of the season, a power-play marker against Yale. Egle is tied with Nico Sturm for first on the Clarkson scoring charts with 15 points on six goals and nine assists though 13 games. He tallied 16 points (5-11) in 30 games last season.

• Along with sharing the team lead in goals (6), assists (9), points (15) and plus/minus (+9), Nico Sturm is Clarkson's top center at the faceoff circle, winning 57.4% (116-86) of his draws.

• While several of Clarkson's big guns were held off the scoresheet, the Knights' secondary scoring played a significant role in Friday's offensive output in the victory over Brown.

• Senior defenseman Aaron Thow extended his point streak to three games with his second goal of the season, on Friday, and an assist on Saturday. Thow, who scored his first goal of the season in the 6-2 win over St. Lawrence in Lake Placid (11/24), has four points (2-2) in the past three games. Overall, Thow has tallied nine points (2-7).

• Freshman Nick Campoli also scored a goal for the second consecutive game on Friday. The 2017 Las Vegas draft pick, scored his first collegiate goal in the win over the Saints on November 24.

• Sophomore defenseman Connor McCarthy tallied his second career goal and added an assist against Brown to match his career high for points in a game.

• Senior Marly Quince has netted two goals on the season, both for game winners. He scored the winner in Friday's victory over Brown and recorded the deciding goal in the 3-1 victory over Michigan Tech (11/17) for his first career game winner.

• Through the first 13 games, 15 different Golden Knights have scored at least one goal and 20 players have recorded at least one point.

• Clarkson's junior class (six skaters) has accounted for 44% of the scoring with 55 points on 18 goals and 37 assists. The sophomore (15-13-28 pts) and freshman (7-20-27) classes have accounted for 22% of the offense, while the three-member senior class has contributed 12% of the scoring with 15 points on four goals and 11 assists.

• Clarkson defensemen are chipping in 28.8% of the offense from the blueline, recording 36 points on nine goals and 27 assists.

• Defensemen, junior Jordan Schneider and freshman Michael Underwood share the team plus/minus lead (+9) with Sturm.

• Jake Kielly recorded his 46th career win behind 27 saves against Brown on Friday. His career record is 46-31-11, eqauling Paul Karpowich '12 for career wins at Clarkson. The last Clarkson goaltender to post 50-or-more career wins was David Leggio '08, amassing a career record of 59-29-12 through 103 games. Starting all 13 games this season, Kielly owns a .924 save percentage and a 2.18 goals against average en route to an 8-5 record with one shutout. He shares the lead for most career shutouts (12) among active NCAA goaltenders, along with Minnesota's Eric Schierhorn. Kielly was named one of the 20 Division I goaltenders to the watch list for the 2019 Mike Richter Award, which annually honors the most outstanding goaltender in the NCAA.

• After allowing Canisius to score four power-play goals on six chances on November 10, Clarkson's shorthanded unit killed off 18 straight opponent man-advantage opportunities before Yale connected with the extra skater in the second period on Saturday. For the season, the Knights have killed off 77.8% (42-54) of the opponents' power plays.

• Clarkson has scored on the power play in each of the last four games. The Knights are clicking at 18.9% (10-53) with the man-advantage. Egle and defensemen, junor Greg Moro and McCarthy have tallied a team-high two power-play goals.

• The Knights have outscord their opponents 14-7 in the opening 20 minutes and 18-8 in the thid period.

• Clarkson is 0-3-0 in one-goal games and 4-0-0 in games decided by two goals.

• Junior forwards Devin Brosseau and Nico Sturm have been named "Robert E. Empie '68 Men's Hockey Team Captains" while senior forward Marly Quince and Jake Kielly will serve as assistant captains.

• Last year's leading scorer Sheldon Rempal, who left the Clarkson program after his sophomore campaign to sign a professional contract with the Los Angeles Kings, has skated seven games in NHL. Rempal was the leading rookie scorer in the AHL for Ontario Reign prior to his call up to the Kings.

• In its 97th season, Clarkson boasts 73 winning campaigns and a 1,444-867-160 all-time record for a .617 winning percentage since 1920-21.

The Series

In the overall series between the North Country rivals, which began in the 1925-26 campaign, the Golden Knights hold an overwhelming 126-71-11 lead. Clarkson won its fourth straight over the Saints just two weeks ago, 6-2 in non-league action at the Thanksgiving Faceoff in Lake Placid. The Green and Gold took both games from St. Lawrence last season, winning 3-1 at Cheel Arena and 4-2 at Appleton Arena on December 8-9. St. Lawrence's last win was a 3-1 victory in Canton on December 9, 2016. The Saints' last win in Potsdam came on January 31, 2015 (2-1).

Nico Sturm leads the Clarkson offense against the Saints with six points on four goals and two assists. Grant Cooper has scored twice against the Saints with both goals coming in the last meeting. Aaron Thow tallied his first goal of the season in the November 24 win, while J.C. MacLean and Nick Campoli scored their first career goals in that victory. Jake Kielly posts a .934 save percentage, a 1.81 GAA and a 4-1 record.

Scouting St. Lawrence

The Saints have struggled this year with a 2-11-1 record and a 0-3-1 ECAC Hockey mark. St. Lawrence is averaging only 1.64 goals per game (56th in NCAA) and are allowing 3.79 GPG (T-55th). St. Lawrence has won one game at home (4-3 vs Holy Cross on Oct. 19) and one game on the road (4-3ot at Minnesota on Nov. 16). This past weekend at Appleton Arena, the Saints lost to Yale (5-3) and tied Brown (2-2). After this weekend's games, St. Lawrence will compete in the Ice Vegas Invitational in Las Vegas on January 4-5.