Riding one of the longest unbeaten streaks in the country, the Clarkson University Women’s Hockey team closes out the regular season in central New York this weekend. Guided by fourth-year co-head coaches Matt and Shannon Desrosiers and assistant coach Matt Kelly, the Golden Knights will look to continue to build momentum heading into the upcoming ECAC Hockey playoffs when they battle third-ranked Cornell in a 7:00 p.m. game at Lynah Rink in Ithaca on Friday, and then take on Colgate at Starr Rink in Hamilton at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.

Clarkson, led by senior captain Katelyn Ptolemy (Dinsmore, SASK) and assistant captain Danielle Boudreau (Whitby, ONT), has reached the 20-win mark for the fourth time in the program’s nine-year history with a 20-7-5 overall record. The Green and Gold, who have clinched a home-ice berth for the first-round of the conference postseason, stand in third place in the ECAC Hockey standings with a 14-4-2 league mark. The Knights are one point behind Harvard for second, and two points ahead of fourth-place St. Lawrence.

Clarkson extended its current unbeaten streak to seven games by knocking off Princeton 2-1 in New Jersey on Friday, and skating past Quinnipiac 3-2 on Saturday in Hamden, CT for its sixth straight victory. The Green and Gold are 8-1-1 in conference play during the New Year.

Sophomore Brittany Styner (Calgary, ALB) powered the Clarkson offense in the weekend road sweep with the game-winning goal at Princeton, followed by a goal and an assist vs. Quinnipiac. She has a current five-game point-scoring streak (3-5), and 22 points (6-16) for the year.

Sophomore Carly Mercer (Exeter, ONT) leads the Knights in points with 39, including 25 assists. Clarkson’s leading goal scorer, sophomore Jamie Lee Rattray (Kanata, ONT) has tallied 17 goals and 34 points through 28 games. Senior Juana Baribeau (Amos, QUE) follows with 27 points (16-11) and has amassed 62 goals and 56 assists through 145 career games. Junior Danielle Skirrow (Trenton, ONT) posts 26 points and 16 goals, including 10 power-play markers. Powering the Knights offensively from the blueline, junior defenseman Hailey Wood (Lethbridge, ALB) has recorded a point in each of the last six games, giving her 24 (3-21) in 32 contests.

Playing all but 48 minutes in the Clarkson goal this season, sophomore Erica Howe (Ottawa, ONT) boasts a .927 save percentage and a 1.77 goals against average along with six shutouts.

Ranked third in the nation, Cornell owns a 24-3 overall record and clinched the ECAC Hockey regular season title with an 18-2 mark. The Big Red have gone 14-1 in 2012 with their only loss coming at Clarkson, 5-3, on January 28. Last weekend on the road, Cornell shut out Brown 5-0 in Providence and defeated Yale 6-1 in New Haven, CT for its fifth consecutive victory. The Big Red are 12-1 at home.

Colgate is battling for the eighth playoff spot with a 5-13-2 ECAC Hockey record prior to its game against St. Lawrence on Friday. The Raiders are two points behind Brown and Rensselaer for the final playoff berth. Colgate is 10-19-2 overall. The Raiders picked up one point on the road last weekend, tying Yale, 1-1, and losing to Brown 3-2. Colgate is 7-7-1 at home.