Clarkson took advantage of a three-goal second period and triumphed 4-2 over Brown Saturday night before 2,581 at Cheel Arena. Junior Chris D’Alvise tallied twice and senior goalie David Leggio registered 29 saves in powering the Knights past the Bears, finishing a weekend sweep in ECAC play.
The Knights came out strong in the first period, outshooting the Bears 15-9 and controlling possession throughout. Clarkson had multiple opportunities on net, but was unable to break through.
“I thought the early part of the game for us, we were not very good,”said Brown head coach Roger Grillo. “Give Clarkson a lot of credit; they’re a heck of a team. They have a lot of talent. They played hard. I told our guys you can’t play 15 minutes and expect to beat a team like Clarkson and that’s basically what the difference was.”
Clarkson broke the game open in the second period, starting at the 5:31 mark. Freshman Bryan Rufenach fired a shot on goal that was stopped but not collected by sophomore goalie Dan Rosen. Classmate Scott Freeman grabbed the loose puck in front and found the back of the net for his second goal of the season.
D’Alvise and freshman Lauri Tuohimaa scored just thirty-three seconds apart as the period wound down. While on a power play, sophomore Matt Beca found senior captain Nick Dodge down in the left corner, where he one-timed a pass to D’Alvise in front, who converted for the 2-0 advantage with 2:53 to play.
Tuohimaa’s goal came on a rebound in front of the net. D’Alvise had fired a shot on net but Rosen was again unable to collect the puck. Tuohimaa quickly poked the puck past the netminder for the Golden Knight’s third goal of the period.
Brown jumped on Clarkson early in the third period with a power-play goal just sixteen seconds into resumed play. Senior Chris Poli carried from mid-ice through the Knights’ defense, cut to the left and fired a shot that beat Leggio to his left side.
Clarkson answered just over three minutes later with a power-play goal of their own. Down in the right corner, Dodge found Beca in front where he had his shot stopped. Once again, Rosen failed to harness the puck and provided a second opportunity. D’Alvise, on the weak side, flipped the puck into the open net, reclaiming Clarkson’s three-goal advantage.
“It seems like every game somebody else is stepping up,” said Clarkson head coach George Roll. “That’s what’s good about our team; we don’t just have one or two guys, we have five or six that can come to the forefront and it was Chris’ night tonight.”
Brown continued their comeback attempt, but only found the net once more against Leggio. Senior Jeff Prough cut in front and one-timed a pass from sophomore Devin Timberlake to close the gap to 4-2.
