Clarkson freshman goaltender Dustin Traylen stopped 17 shots and earned his first career collegiate shutout, a 1-0 decision over Vermont in front of 2,886 at Clarkson’s Cheel Arena.
Randy Jones’ goal at 2:27 of the third period was enough as Traylen stopped seven shots in the third period to lead the Golden Knights to victory.
“This was a good weekend for everyone,” said Clarkson head coach Fred Parker on the Knights’ first weekend sweep of the season. “We showed that we can play on both levels this weekend. We can hang with teams in the high-scoring games and we can grind it out with teams in the low-scoring games.”
Clarkson defeated Dartmouth Friday, 7-5, in a wild affair. While scoring was the highlight of Friday’s contest, defense was the theme of the game on Saturday night. Vermont goaltender Shawn Conschafter made 26 saves in a losing effort.
“[Conschafter] has put together three good games in a row now. It’s too bad we couldn’t get any goals for him tonight,” said Vermont head coach Mike Gilligan. “Tonight’s game was really competitive, with both goaltenders playing really well. Clarkson has bigger forwards and boxed us out pretty well. I felt it was a clean game, it was just unfortunate we couldn’t put one in.”
Both teams played an even first period, with neither generating quality scoring chances in the early going.
The game’s first shot was not registered until the 7:12 mark of the first period. Vermont skated through an early power play without managing a shot, while Clarkson notched three of its five first-period shots while a man down.
The second period was almost a mirror image of the first as defense was the theme. Clarkson had three power plays in the second but could not capitalize on any of them.
Vermont took five shots at Traylen while Clarkson could not beat Conschafter with 11 second-period shots.
But Clarkson used the fresh ice of the third period to notch the game’s only goal.
Jones skated around a Vermont defender and tried to beat Conschafter to the short side. Conshafter made the initial save but was unable to clear the rebound, and Jones took a hack at the sitting puck but was denied again.
The third try was a charm as Jones roofed the second rebound above Conscafter’s shoulder to give the home team a 1-0 lead.
A Vermont penalty 20 seconds later seemed to give Clarkson momentum but Conschafter took that away by denying the Clarkson power play for the fourth time on the evening.
Traylen was tested only once in the final frame as Vermont’s Ryan Miller snapped a hard shot from the top of the slot which was quickly gloved by Traylen.
With 1:39 remaining Conschafter headed to the bench, but Vermont could not mount any offensive pressure with the extra attacker. Clarkson hung on to earn Traylen the shutout and complete the four-point weekend.
Clarkson finishes up a five-game homestand next Saturday against top rival St. Lawrence. Vermont travels to New Hampshire to take on travel partner Dartmouth.
