Winners of its last five games and eight of the last nine, the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team closed out the first half of the schedule as one of the hottest teams in the nation. Guided by fourth-year co-head coaches Matt and Shannon Desrosiers and assistant coach Matt Kelly, the Golden Knights will look to pick up where they left off after the lengthy break when they resume action in early January playing two nationally-ranked Hockey East powerhouses in Boston. Clarkson plays seventh-ranked Northeastern at Matthews Arena on Thursday, January 5 and battles fourth-ranked Boston College at Conte Forum on Friday, January 6. Both games begin at 3:00 p.m.

The Golden Knights, led by senior captain Katelyn Ptolemy (Dinsmore, SASK) and senior assistant captain Danielle Boudreau (Whitby, ONT), own a 12-4-4 overall record. In their last action before the 24-day break, the Green and Gold opened a seven-game road trip with a weekend sweep at Niagara University (3-1, 1-0) on December 10-11.

Clarkson, which resumes in ECAC Hockey on January 13 at Yale, stands in second place in the 12-team conference with a 6-3-1 league mark.

The Knights have been impressive offensively and defensively since early November. Since a surprising 2-1 loss at Union on November 4, Clarkson has put it all together and has outscored its opponents 28-6 over the past nine games. The lone setback during the nine-game stretch was a 2-1 loss at Harvard on November 18. During the current five-game winning streak, the Green and Gold have dominated their opponents with a 21-3 scoring margin. The 1-0 win at Niagara on December 11 was Clarkson’s sixth shutout in the season’s first half.

Selected ECAC Goaltender of the Month for both October and November, sophomore Erica Howe (Ottawa, ONT) posted all-star numbers in 2011. Playing in all but 20 minutes in the Clarkson goal through the first 20 games, Howe boasts a 1.55 goals against average (4th in the nation), a .935 save percentage (10th) and is tied for second in the NCAA in shutouts with five. Howe backstops Division I’s top penalty-kill 90.6% (77-85).

Sophomore Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ONT) paces the Knights offensively with 24 points on 11 goals and 13 assists. Emerging as one of the top forwards in college hockey, Rattray will miss Clarkson’s games at Northeastern and Boston College as she represents her country in international play. Rattray will be participating with Canada’s U-22 National Team at the 2012 Meco Cup in Fussen, Germany on January 3-8, 2012.

One of seven players scoring in double figures for the Green and Gold, sophomore Carly Mercer (Exeter, ONT) follows with 19 points (7-12). Junior classmates, forward Danielle Skirrow (Trenton, ONT) and defenseman Hailey Wood (Lethbridge, ALB) post 14 points apiece. Skirrow has tallied nine goals and is tied for third in the nation, along with Mercer, for power-play markers with six. Wood is tied with Rattray as the team’s leading playmaker with 13 assist.

Northeastern is on a four-game unbeatean streak (3-0-1) and stands at 13-4-1 overall. The Huskies are atop the Hockey East standings with an 8-2-1 league mark. Northeastern is 8-1 at home.

Boston College, which lost 3-2 in overtime to Mercyhurst in its last game on December 10, owns a 13-5-1 record. The Eagles are right behind Northeastern in the Hockey East standings at 7-2-1 in conference play.