With a pair of solid efforts in two of the toughest buildings in the league, the Clarkson University Hockey team closed out the 2011 portion of the ECAC Hockey schedule by earning three points on the road. After battling 17th-ranked Cornell to a 0-0 tie at Lynah Rink in Ithaca, NY on Saturday, the Golden Knights came back on Tuesday with a hard-fought 5-3 victory over archrival St. Lawrence at Appleton Arena in Canton, NY.

Guided by first-year head coach Casey Jones and assistants Phil Roy ’00 and Andy Jones, Clarkson plays its final game before the lengthy exam/holiday break by facing off against St. Lawrence in non-league action in Lake Placid on Saturday in the second game of the Festivus Faceoff at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Rensselaer and Union play in the first game, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Both games will be broadcast over the web free of charge on WhitefaceLakePlacid.tv.

Led by senior captain Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY) and assistants, grad student Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) and sophomore Ben Sexton (Kanata, ONT), the Knights own a 9-6-4 overall record and are in a four-way tie for third place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 3-4-2 league mark. In the midst of its longest road trip in 71 years, the Green and Gold return to action after the break when they participate in the Everblades College Classic in Estero, FL against Maine, Cornell and UMass on December 29-30. After the visit to the Sunshine State, the Knights travel north to Winnipeg, MAN to play North Dakota on January 7 to close out a nine-game road trip.

After watching a third-period lead slip away in last Friday’s 4-2 loss at 14th-ranked Colgate, Clarkson came back last Saturday with a strong disciplined, defensive game to gain the scoreless tie against Cornell. Senior goaltender Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) backstopped the effort with 32 saves for his sevent career whitewash.

With two of their leading offensive players (Sexton, Tremblay) out with injuries, the Knights received goals from emerging scorers and equaled their highest goal total of the season in the win over St. Lawrence. The Zarbo Brothers (Grand Island, NY), sophomore Matt and freshman Joe connected for one goal and one assist each and sophomore Will Frederick (Allison Park, PA) tallied his first two goals of the season and added one assist. Senior Corey Tamblyn (Bobcaygeon, ONT) recorded one goal and one assist, while junior Adam Pawlick (Utica, NY) and freshman defenseman Kevin Tansey (Hammond, ONT) both set up two goals. Karpowich made 28 saves in Clarkson’s fourth straight win over the Saints.

St. Lawrence has lost four straight and has been outscored 15-6 during the skid. The Saints suffered a sweep last weekend, losing to Cornell 1-0 and Colgate 6-2 in Central NY. Prior to the losing stretch, St. Lawrence had won five of its previous six games after starting the season at 0-5. The Saints, owns a 5-10 overall record and are in the tie for third place in the conference standings with a 4-5 ECAC Hockey mark.

The Series:

The Golden Knights hold an overwhelming 115-64-9 series lead against the Saints, which began with a 1-0 Clarkson victory during the 1925-26 season. In 2010-11, Clarkson defeated St. Lawrence three times in one season for the first time since the 2001-02 campaign, and followed that up with its fourth consecutive win over its North Country neighbor with Tuesday’s 5-3 triumph in Canton. The Green and Gold are 18-15-2 against their archrival in games played during the 2000s.

Last year, Clarkson knocked off the Saints 2-1 in overtime for a non-league victory in Lake Placid on October 30 with Matt Zarbo netting the winning goal in overtime. The Knights gained a 3-1 ECAC Hockey win at Cheel Arena on November 20 and closed out the conference series with a 2-1 triumph at Appleton Arena on February 16.

St. Lawrence’s last win in the rivalry was a 3-2 victory in the ECAC playoffs first-round on March 7, 2010 in Canton, which clinched a first-round series for the Saints. In 2009-10 the North Country foes skated in six games with St. Lawrence coming out on top 3-2-1. The teams went 1-1-1 in three regular-season games and the Saints won the playoff series 2-1.

Nick Tremblay (3-3) and Corey Tamblyn (2-4) lead the Green and Gold in scoring against the Saints with six points each. In four games against St. Lawrence, Matt Zarbo has tallied four goals, including two game-winners, and one assist.

Paul Karpowich posts a .924 save percentage, a 2.36 goals against average and a 7-5-1 record through 764:13 minutes of play against SLU.

Knight Notes:

Clarkson closes out its longest road trip in 71 years with four consecutive non-league games on neutral ice. The Knights play St. Lawrence at the 1980 Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid on Saturday, faceoff against Maine and either Cornell or UMass at Germain Arena in Estero, FL on December 29-30 and then take on North Dakota at the MTS Centre in downtown Winnipeg on January 7 to complete a nine-game break from Cheel Arena … ECAC Hockey play resumes for the Green and Gold on January 13 when the Knights host Yale to open a three-game home stand … Matt Zarbo is fast becoming a villain in Canton, NY. The sophomore forward has scored four goals in his first four games against St. Lawrence along with adding an assist. He scored the game-winner in Tuesday’s 5-3 victory at Appleton Arena and also tallied the deciding goal in last year’s 2-1 overtime victory against the Saints in Lake Placid … Matt’s younger brother, Joe, is not too popular in Canton either after scoring just 56 seconds into his first game ever against the Saints. He also set up his brother’s game-winner in the third period … Clarkson’s Grind Line of senior center Corey Tamblyn (+7), senior left wing Jake Morley (+7) and sophomore right wing Will Frederick (+8) has combined for a +22 playing against opposing teams’ top lines … Frederick is coming off his first multiple-goal game with his first two scores of the season and one assist against St. Lawrence on Tuesday … Tamblyn has five goals already this season after scoring just four goals last season … Adam Pawlick recorded his first career two-assist game by setting up the Knights’ first and fourth goals on Tuesday … Louke Oakley leads Clarkson in scoring with 17 points on seven goals and 10 assists … Paul Karpowich is enjoying a stellar start to his senior campaign. The 2008 St. Louis Blues NHL Draft choice (7th rd, 185) is ranked among the national leaders in save percentage - .942 (2nd) and goals against average -1.82 (7th). With Karpowich playing every minute in the Knights’ crease, Clarkson has posted five shutouts this season, the most for the Green and Gold since the 2007-08 campaign when the team notched six whitewashes. Karpowich, who was named ECAC Hockey/Fischer Hockey Goaltender of the Month for October, has started the last 41 games in the Clarkson goal and 109 during his career. He is closing in on the all-time save record at Clarkson with 3,213 through 112 games. The Knights’ all-time record is 3,375 saves by Dan Murphy in 135 games from 1994-98 … With three freshmen, two sophomores and two juniors on the blueline, Clarkson is allowing only 1.95 goals per game, sixth best in the NCAA … Rookie defenseman Kevin Tansey leads the Green and Gold in plus/minus at +12. He posted his first career multiple-point game with two assists against the Saints … Freshman defenseman James Howden (Edgeley, SASK) has been steady with a +9 … Rookie rearguard Sam Labrecque (Granby, ONT) provides the offense from the blueline with 12 points (2-10) … Clarkson recorded its first power-play goal in four games when Frederick scored into an empty net with eight seconds remaining in Tuesday’s game at St. Lawrence … The Knights are 8-1-1 when scoring first and 9-0-2 when leading after 40 minutes … Since 1980, Clarkson is 13-11 at the Olympic Arena in Lake Placid, including a 2-1 overtime triumph over SLU last season. The Knights posted an 8-9 mark in the ECAC Tournament when it was held in Lake Placid for 10 years from 1993-2002, winning titles in 1993 and 1999.