ECAC Women’s Hockey will be at the forefront in the North Country this weekend as two of the hottest teams in the league will battle in a home-and-home series. The Golden Knights of Clarkson University will take on the St. Lawrence University Saints at Appleton Arena in a 7:00 p.m. game in Canton on Friday to close out a seven-game road trip. The Green and Gold will then play their first game in Potsdam since December 3 when then host their Route 11 rivals in a 3:00 p.m. game at Cheel Arena on Saturday.

Both games will be broadcast on the radio and live over the internet by WQTK.FM.

Winners of its last five conference games, Clarkson, guided by co-head coaches Matt and Shannon Desrosiers and assistant Matt Kelly, is tied for third place in the ECAC Hockey standings with an 8-3-1 league mark. Led by senior captain Katelyn Ptolemy (Dinsmore, SASK) and senior assistant captain Danielle Boudreau (Whitby, ONT), the Knights stand at 14-6-4 overall.

Playing its first league games of the New Year this past weekend, Clarkson was impressive in the road sweep, defeating Yale 5-2 in New Haven, CT and Brown 6-2 in Providence, RI. During their current five-game ECAC Hockey win streak, the Knights have outscored their league foes 28-6.

Sophomore Carly Mercer (Exeter, ONT) powered the Clarkson offense this past weekend, accounting for four goals and two assists to extend her current point-scoring streak to seven games. Mercer figured in on four of the Knights' five goals in the win at Yale with two goals and two assists, and followed on Saturday with a pair of first-period goals as Clarkson took a 4-0 lead en route to the victory at Brown. Mercer leads the Green and Gold in scoring with 28 points, including a team-high 16 assists. Mercer is tied for second in the country in power-play goals with eight through 24 games.

Sophomore Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ONT) is averaging over a point per game with 12 goals and 14 assists through 20 contests. Junior Danielle Skirrow (Trenton, ONT) follows with 19 points (11-8) and is tied for fourth in the country in game-winning goals with four. Classmate Hailey Wood (Lethbridge, ALB) powers the offense from the blueline with 18 points, including 16 assists. Senior Juana Baribeau (Amos, QUE) has 15 points (9-6) and leads all current Knights in career points with 106 (55-51). Freshman Christine Lambert (Thetford Mines, QUE), who tallied a season-high three assists against Brown, leads the Knights’ rookie scorers with seven points (4-3).

Selected ECAC Goaltender of the Month for both October and November, sophomore Erica Howe (Ottawa, ONT) has posted all-star numbers this season. Playing in all but 47 minutes in the Clarkson goal through the first 24 games, Howe boasts a 1.78 goals against average (6th in the nation), a .926 save percentage (13th) and is tied for second in the NCAA in shutouts with five. Howe backstops Division I’s top-ranked penalty-kill 89.9% (89-99). She earned her first career point by assisting on Clarkson's first goal in the win at Brown.

Owning the longest current winning streak in the nation at seven games, St. Lawrence owns a 13-7-3 overall record and a seventh-place 7-4-1 ECAC Hockey mark. Guided by head coach Chris Wells, the Saints have outscored their opponents 30-9 during their current winning streak. St. Lawrence swept on the road this past weekend, shutting out Brown 3-0 and overwhelming Yale 7-1.