A balanced effort by the Golden Knights led the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team to a convincing victory in its first action of the season as the Green and Gold defeated the Bluewater Jr. Hawks 4-0 in an exhibition contest at Cheel Arena on Friday night.

Eight different Knights recorded points, led by freshman Brittany Styner’s (Calgary, ALB) two goals, and all three Clarkson goaltenders chipped in for the shutout.

Styner opened the scoring at 4:46 of the first period, finishing off assists from freshman linemate Shelby Nisbet (Wiseton, SASK) and senior defenseman Courtney Olson (Brunswick, GA).  Clarkson took a 2-0 lead at 12:50 as junior Gabrielle Kosziwka (Limehouse, ONT) connected off assists from linemates, freshman Carly Mercer (Exeter, ONT) and senior Melissa Waldie (Newmarket, ONT). Less than two minutes later, sophomore Danielle Skirrow (Trenton, ONT) made it 3-0 with an unassisted tally at 14:31.

Styner completed the scoring with her second goal of the night with 7.2 seconds remaining in the second stanza. Junior Danielle Boudreau (Whitby, ONT) and Mercer, with her second assist of the game, set up the goal.

The Knights outshot Bluewater 37-10, including a 20-5 margin in the opening 20 minutes. Senior Lauren Dahm (Baldwinsville, NY) started the game in the Clarkson goal and posted five first-period stops. Sophomore Kelsey Neumann (China Grove, NC) blanked the Hawks with three second-period saves, and freshman Erica Howe (Ottawa, ONT) closed out the shutout with two saves over the final 20 minutes.

Clarkson was 0-of-5 on the power play, while Bluewater was 0-of-3 with the man advantage.

Clarkson officially opens the 2010-11 campaign next Friday and Saturday, October 1-2 at Cheel Arena with a series against the University of Minnesota. The Knights and Gophers played last year in the NCAA Quarterfinals out in Minneapolis in March with Minnesota pulling out an overtime victory on its home ice.