ECAC Men’s Hockey playoff action returns to Potsdam, NY after a two-year absence when the Clarkson University Hockey team hosts Harvard University in a best-of-three game first-round series this weekend at Cheel Arena. The Golden Knights will face off against the Crimson on Friday and Saturday, beginning at 7:00 p.m. If the series is tied after two games, the two long-time conference rivals will play again on Sunday in a series-deciding third game with faceoff at 4:00 p.m.

Guided by eighth-year head coach George Roll, associate coach Greg Drechsel and assistant coach Chris Rogles, Clarkson secured its first-home ice berth in the league playoffs since 2008 by skating to a 9-12-1 ECAC Hockey mark. Picked to finish in 12th place by both the preseason coaches and media polls, the Green and Gold tied for seventh in the conference standings and earned the seventh seed in the playoffs.

Led by junior captain Mark Borowiecki (Kanata, ONT) and assistant captains, senior Brandon DeFazio (Oakville, ONT) and junior Jake Morley (Ogdensburg, NY), the Knights have skated to their most wins in a season in two years, owning a 15-17-2 overall record.

Clarkson snapped a three-game losing skid with a 4-1 victory at 18th-ranked Dartmouth in Hanover, NH on Saturday to clinch one of the final home-ice positions. The previous night, Clarkson lost 3-1 to Harvard in Cambridge, MA.

In other first-round series action, fifth-seed Rensselaer will host 12th-seeded Colgate in Troy, NY; Princeton (6th) will battle St. Lawrence (11th) in New Jersey and Quinnipiac (8th) and Brown (9th) will face off on the Bearcats’ home ice in Hamden, CT.

DeFazio leads a balanced Clarkson offense with 24 points, including a team-high 13 goals. Morley, who scored a goal in both games over the weekend, follows with 22 points, including a team-high 15 assists. Junior Nick Tremblay (Candiac, QUE), who sat out the past two games due to an illness, has 21 points (9-12) along with freshman standout Allan McPherson (Kinburn, ONT) (8-13).

Junior Paul Karpowich (Thunder Bay, ONT) has seen the bulk of time in the Clarkson crease, starting 33 games of the 34 games, including the last 21. He posts a .914 save percentage and a 2.98 goals against average along with a 15-16-2 record, including one shutout.

Clarkson has been a force in the ECAC since the league was formed at the start of the 1961-62 season. The Knights, who have participated in 49 of the conference’s 50 postseason tournaments, have won five league championships (1966, 1991, 1993, 1999, 2007). Clarkson owns an 81-63-5 record in the conference playoffs, and is 3-3 in first-round series (7-7). Last season, Clarkson lost its first-round series at St. Lawrence 2-1 (3-2ot, 3-4ot, 3-2). The Knights played in four straight first-round series from 2003 through 2006. Clarkson lost its first ever first-round series, falling to Vermont 2-0 (3-2, 6-1) at Cheel in 2003, but defeated Union on the road 2-0 (8-3, 5-2) in 2004, and again in 2005, 2-1 (1-0 ot, 1-2 ot, 4-3 ot). The Green and Gold also swept Princeton in Potsdam 2-0 (2-1, 5-0) in 2006 and lost at Union 2-0 (5-3, 7-2) in 2009. The Knights have advanced to 31 league championship tournaments and have skated in 13 title games.

One of ECAC Hockey’s hottest teams down the stretch, Harvard moved out of the bottom of the league standings with an impressive run to close out the regular season. Guided by seventh-year head coach Ted Donato, the Crimson finished the league campaign with a 10th-place 7-14-1 mark. Overall Harvard stands at 9-19-1. The Crimson have won three straight and are 5-1-1 over their last seven games, including a sweep at Bright Hockey Center over Clarkson (3-1) and St. Lawrence (4-3) this past weekend. Harvard is 3-11 in road games.

The Series:

The Knights lead the series against Harvard, which began with a 2-1 Clarkson win in Lake Placid on December 28, 1935, 50-46-11. The Golden Knights have gone 8-2-2 against the Crimson over the last 12 meetings. The long-time ECAC rivals split the regular-season series with each team winning on it’s home ice. Clarkson skated to a 3-1 victory at Cheel Arena on November 13 while Harvard posted a 3-1 win last Friday at Bright Hockey Center to snap a four-game winless (2-0-2) stretch in the rivalry.

The Knights are 14-6-2 against the Crimson at Cheel Arena and are unbeaten in the series’ last eight games (7-0-1) in Potsdam. Harvard’s last win at Cheel was a 4-2 victory on November 27, 2004.

Clarkson and Harvard are tied 9-9-1 in ECAC Hockey playoff games. The Knights swept the Crimson in their last postseason matchup, winning the 2007 quarterfinal series at Cheel 2-0 (3-0, 2-1) en route to their last conference tournament championship. Harvard defeated Clarkson 4-2 in Albany to win the 2004 league tournament title for its last postseason win over the Green and Gold. The teams have never faced off against each other in a first-round series.

Paul Karpowich

is 2-2-1 in the series with a .926 save percentage and a 2.15 GAA. Richie LaVeau is 0-0-1 against the Crimson with a .885 save percentage and a 2.77 GAA. Louke Oakley (1-2), Scott Freeman (1-2) and Brandon DeFazio (0-3) each have three points in the rivalry. George Roll is 10-7-3 against Harvard, while the Crimson’s Ted Donato is 5-9-2 against the Knights.

Knight Notes:

Great goaltending is the key to playoff success, and the Knights could enjoy a lengthy postseason run if Paul Karpowich continues his solid play in the Clarkson crease. Although his league stats don’t indicate it, the junior netminder is having a solid year. Starting 33 of the Knights’ 34 games, he posts a .914 save percentage and a 2.98 goals against average overall. Karpowich was at his best in the home-ice clinching win at nationally-ranked Dartmouth on Saturday making a season-high 43 saves. He has recorded 19 games with at least 30 stops, and has four 30+-save outings over the past five games, including 37 in the February 15, 2-1 win at St. Lawrence. With 1,001 saves this year, Karpowich is on pace to break the single-season save record of 1, 037 set by David Leggio ‘08 through 37 games of the 2006-07 campaign ... Twenty-three different players have accounted for Clarkson’s 93 goals this season, giving the Knights a balanced attack. Brandon DeFazio leads the way with 13 goals and a team-high 24 points … Scott Freeman is the only other player with double-digit goals at 10, but unfortunately he will be out of the lineup for an extended period of time due to an injury suffered in the Rensselaer game on February 19 … Allan McPherson leads Clarkson’s talented freshman class with 21 points on eight goals and 13 assists … The Knights’ rookie have accounted for 27 goals and 53 assists for 32% of Clarkson’s offensive production … Clarkson’s leading playmaker with 15 assists, Jake Morley scored a goal in both games over the weekend, giving him 22 points on the season. Morley tallied 12 points (6-6) through his first two years … Julien Cayer tallied the game-winner at Dartmouth and has recorded six (3-3) of his eight points (3-5) this season in the 2011 portion of the schedule … Adam Pawlick scored his third goal of the season and first since December 3 for the Knights’ third goal at Dartmouth … The Knights will look to turn around their fortunes at Cheel Arena where they have gone just 5-10-2 this season and 18-24-9 the past three years … Clarkson is 10-0-1 when leading through two periods, but 0-15-0 when trailing after the opening 20 minutes.