In the midst of its 100th season, Clarkson is saving its best hockey for the end of the year.
The Golden Knights enter this weekend against Cornell and Colgate in the midst of a 10-game unbeaten streak, including a 3-1 win over No. 2 Quinnipiac on Saturday. That win over the Bobcats put Clarkson one point behind the first-place Bobcats, although Quinnipiac does have a game in hand over the Golden Knights.
“We’ve had a healthy roster for the most part, knock on wood,” Clarkson coach Casey Jones said. “We’ve been pretty resilient in games when we’ve gotten down [on the scoreboard].”
It’s helped that Clarkson has a number of veterans in their lineup who don’t get rattled, regardless of the situation. The Golden Knights have four graduate players, including captains Jack Jacome and Zach Tsekos. Jacome has played his entire five-year career at Clarkson, while Tsekos is in his third year with the Golden Knights after spending two years at Sacred Heart.
“When you’ve got veteran players that our really good players, that adds a lot of stability,” Jones said. “When you go one a streak, you have to be pretty consistent with your approach. They’ve been around the block to know that you’ve got to stay on top of your game. That’s where the experience comes through in terms of preparation and banking games and moving on and focusing on the task at hand.”
While the veterans have played a big role for Clarkson this season, several underclassmen have been important contributors as well. Sophomore forward Alex Campbell is second on the team with 13 goals, while freshman Ayrton Martino has 19 points.
Sophomore defenseman Kaelan Taylor, Noah Beck, Jordan Power, and Tommy Pasanen have all seen important minutes for the Golden Knights and have helped create offense from the backend and are part of a penalty kill that ranks first in Division I.
In goal, sophomore Ethan Haider began the season as the starter after a strong freshman season, but gave way to classmate Jacob Mucitelli for a stretch. Mucitelli, who is 6-0-1 with a 1.25 GAA and a .946 save percentage this season, has seen the majority of playing time over the last month. But Haider made 28 saves in Saturday’s win over Quinnipiac, giving the Golden Knights depth at yet another position.
That depth should be useful when Clarkson heads to Colgate and Cornell this weekend for its last road trip of the regular season.
“It’s a road trip that has given us trouble in the past,” Tsekos said following Saturday’s win over the Bobcats. “Those are two really tough teams to play against, especially when they’re on their home ice. We’ve got a lot of depth compared to a lot of teams, so we kind of just utilize that and kind of take it to those teams.”
Clarkson’s recent surge has come against the background of the program celebrating its 100th season. The Golden Knights have worn throwback jerseys for several games throughout the seasons, and while the COVID-19 pandemic has put a restriction on some of the in-person gatherings, Clarkson was able to honor alumni from the 1960s and 1970s on Nov. 12-13.
Jones said that getting to see the alumni and hear the accomplishments in purpose left a mark with the current Golden Knights players. While he can talk about it as a coach, it means a lot more when the players get to see it in person.
“That to me has gone a long with our guys, just to see the history and tradition and the people that have come before our guys,” said Jones. “That’s probably done as much good for us as anything.”
