Taking to the road for the final two games of the regular season, the Clarkson University Hockey team will looked to secure one of the final home-ice positions for the upcoming ECAC Hockey playoffs. Guided by eighth-year head coach George Roll, associate coach Greg Drechsel and assistant coach Chris Rogles, the Golden Knights enter the final weekend of league play tied for seventh in the conference standings with an 8-11-1 conference mark.

Clarkson, led by junior captain Mark Borowiecki (Kanata, ONT) and assistant captains Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) and junior Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY), is tied with Quinnipiac and is three points ahead of ninth-place Brown, and also holds the tie-breaker over the Bears. Teams that finish from fifth to eighth in the standings will get to host the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs.

The Green and Gold, who were picked to finish 12th in the league’s preseason coaches’ poll, can finish anywhere from seventh to ninth place. The Knights play at Harvard and 18th-ranked Dartmouth this weekend and can clinch home ice by taking one point. Clarkson battles the Crimson on Friday at Bright Hockey Center in Cambridge, MA beginning at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, and will face off against the Big Green in Hanover, NH on Saturday in a 7:00 p.m. game at Thompson Arena.

The Knights, who stand at 14-16-2 overall, are coming off a tough weekend in their final regular-season appearance at Cheel Arena. On Friday, Clarkson spotted 7th-ranked Union a 3-0 lead before tying the game early in the third period with three goals in a span of 1:45. The Dutchmen, however, were able to pull out a 4-3 road victory by scoring the deciding goal with 1:12 remaining in the extra session. Against 14th-ranked Rensselaer on Saturday, Clarkson jumped out to an early first-period lead, but the Engineers answered back with five straight goals, including four in the third period, to gain a 5-1 win.

DeFazio leads a balanced Clarkson offense with 23 points, including a team-high 12 goals. Junior Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE) follows with 21 points (9-12). Morley, who has a team-high 15 assists, and freshman standout Allan McPherson (Kinburn, ONT) (8-12) have 20 points apiece.

Junior Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) has seen the majority of time in the Clarkson crease, starting 31 games, including the last 19. He posts a .911 save percentage and a 3.08 goals against average along with a 14-15-2 record, including one shutout.

Harvard is playing its best hockey of the season as the regular season closes out, having gone 3-1-1 over its last five games, including a 2-1 victory at Brown on Tuesday. The Crimson are in 11th place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 5-14-1 record and own a 7-19-1 overall record. The best the Crimson can finish in the league is 9th place. Harvard is just 2-7-1 at Bright Hockey Center, but has gone 1-1-1 in its last three home games. The Crimson tied Princeton 4-4 in its last game in Cambridge on February 11.

Nationally-Dartmouth will look to get back on track after suffering consecutive losses this past weekend for the first time since late October-early November. The Big Green were swept in Central NY, losing 5-3 at Colgate on Friday and 3-2 in overtime on Saturday at Cornell. Dartmouth, which hosts St. Lawrence on Friday, is tied for third-place in the league with an 11-7-2 ECAC Hockey mark. The Big Green, who can finish anywhere from 3rd-6th, own a 15-9-3 overall record. Dartmouth, guided by head coach Bob Gaudet, is 7-3-3 at home Arena this year and is 5-0-1 at Thompson Arena since its last loss in Hanover on January 7 to Yale (2-1).

The Series:

The Knights lead the series against Harvard, which began with a 2-1 Clarkson win in Lake Placid on December 28, 1935, 50-45-11. The Golden Knights have gone 8-1-2 against the Crimson over the last 11 meetings, including a 3-1 victory at Cheel Arena on November 13. The Knights took three of four points from Harvard in ECAC play last year. Clarkson rallied to gain a 3-3 tie in Cambridge on November 21, 2009 and skated past the Crimson 2-1 in overtime in Potsdam on February 26. The Crimson’s last win in the series was a 5-1 victory at Bright Hockey Center on November 14, 2008.

Paul Karpowich is 2-1-1 in the series with a .927 save percentage and a 2.18 GAA. Richie LaVeau is 0-0-1 against the Crimson with a .885 save percentage and a 2.77 GAA. Scott Freeman (1-2) and Brandon DeFazio (0-3) each have three points in the rivalry. George Roll is 10-6-3 against Harvard, while the Crimson’s Ted Donato is 4-9-2 against the Knights.

The Golden Knights hold an overwhelming 64-23-7 advantage all-time in the rivalry against Dartmouth, which began with a 4-1 Clarkson win on February 4, 1929. The Big Green snapped a three-game unbeaten stretch (0-2-1) to the Knights with a 3-1 victory at Cheel Arena on November 12. Last year, Clarkson earned a 3-2 victory in Hanover, NH on November 20, 2009 and battled to a 3-3 tie in Potsdam on February 27, 2010.

Brandon DeFazio has recorded a team-high four points against Dartmouth, including three goals. Paul Karpowich is 1-1-1 and has played 193 minutes against Dartmouth with a .916 save percentage and a 3.41 GAA. Richie LaVeau is 1-0-0 against Dartmouth with a .861 save percentage and a 3.75 GAA through 80 minutes. George Roll is 6-7-3 against Dartmouth, while Bob Gaudet, who also coached at Brown, is 12-27-7 against the Knights.