PROVIDENCE, R.I. – It took less than four minutes for No. 11 Clarkson to jump out to an early two-goal lead against Brown but it took an empty-netter to escape with the 5-3 win on Friday night at Meehan Auditorium.
The Brown comeback attempt came after Clarkson pulled ahead 2-0 early in the first period and then 4-1 by midway through the second period.
“We did enough to win,” said Clarkson coach Casey Jones. “I thought our power play did pretty well tonight, but we definitely need to address some things. I thought there were times where we had spurts of good aggressive play and puck management but there were too many times where we weren’t doing what we needed to do, overall though, we’re happy with the two points.”
Kevin Charysyn drew first blood for Clarkson (7-3-1, 3-0 ECAC) on the power play just 3:23 in when he tipped home a shot from the point by Jere Astren. Just 23 seconds later, some miscommunication coming out of the Brown end allowed Haralds Egle to steal the puck, fly in down the right wing and snipe the puck up high after toe-dragging around a Brown defender to make it a 2-0 lead for Clarkson.
With 12:31 remaining, Clarkson’s Brett Gervais went to the box for tripping and Brown (1-4, 1-4) converted on the ensuing power play when Charlie Corcoran tipped home a shot from the point by Tony Stillwell, as the Bears cut the deficit in half at 2-1.
“I liked the energy we played with,” said Brown coach Brendan Whittet. “Guys executed on the power play and raised their intensities. I thought the power play did very well tonight. We’ve been working on it and getting shots through and I thought we did a pretty good job on that front.”
Brown finished the night two-of-seven on the power play, but unfortunately for the Bears, Clarkson also had a good night on special teams. With just 11 seconds remaining in the period, Josh Dickinson buried a power-play goal from the doorstep following a sweet cross-ice saucer pass by Jack Jarome, and the Golden Knights took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
Clarkson goaltender Jake Kelly stuffed Brown’s Alec Mehr on a breakaway moments after a disallowed Golden Knights goal to keep it at a 3-1 lead for the Golden Knights.
At 8:49, Jere Astren slapped home his second goal of the season on the power play to extend Clarkson’s lead to 4-1. Brown responded at 14:09 when Mehr tipped home a shot by Tyler Bird, making it a 4-2 game heading into the third period.
At 6:01 of the third period, Brown drew within one on the power play when Zach Giuttari one-timed a shot that when bar-down and in off a feed from Brent Beaudoin.
Brown controlled the tempo following the goal by Beaudoin, as the Bears cycled the puck extremely well as they searched for the tying goal. With a little over a minute to play and the game still 4-3 in favor of Clarkson, Brown pulled goaltender Gavin Nieto for an extra attacker. With 25 seconds remaining, Dickinson intercepted a breakout pass in the neutral zone and fired it into the empty net for his second of the game and sealed the deal for the Golden Knights.
“I thought it was sloppy and we need to be more responsible,” said Whittet. “It was up and down like a track meet and we just got to make sure that we are more diligent on the defensive side. Obviously, they’re a really good team and their top line is legit. College hockey boils down to special teams and we have to find a way to be better in those aspects.”
Jones credited Brown for the effort they gave in both ends of the ice.
“You have to give credit to those guys over there,” said Jones. “Brown made life a little hard for us at times and they limited us pretty well. We had some opportunities that we made the best out of with some power play goals but definitely a good game from them, we’re lucky to get the win.”
ECAC Roundup
Yale 6, St. Lawrence 1
Yale scored six unanswered goals after falling behind 1-0 early at home to the Saints on Friday night, improving to 3-2-0 on the year.
Dante Palecco notched a hat trick for the Bulldogs and Bill Sweezey recorded three assists.
Colgate 2, No. 5 Harvard 1
The Raiders of Colgate remained undefeated at home (4-0-2) with a 2-1 upset of No. 5 Harvard on Friday night.
Jared Cockrell and Paul Meyer netted goals for Colgate. Boston Bruins prospect Ryan Donato cut the deficit in half at 2-1 with 54 seconds remaining, but the Raiders hung on for the dramatic one-goal win. Colgate goaltender Colton Point made 30 saves in the winning effort.
No. 14 Cornell 3, Dartmouth 0
The Big Red (5-0-0) remained undefeated with a 3-0 blanking of rival Dartmouth on Friday.
Cornell goaltender Matthew Galajda recorded 16 saves in the shutout effort, with goals coming from Mitch Vanderlaan, Trevor Yates, and Anthony Angello.
Rensselaer 5, No. 16 Quinnipiac 3
RPI scored the game’s final four goals to emerge with a 5-3 come-from-behind win after Quinnipiac jumped out to a 3-1 lead.
The Bobcats’ goals were recorded by Landon Smith, Chase Priskie, and Craig Martin. However.
Jacob Hayhurt got the comeback started for RPI at 7:24 of the second period, followed by a hat trick from Viktor Liljegren, who scored with 9:24 remaining in the second to tie the game and then potted two goals 1:33 apart including the game-winner and an empty-netter in the final two minutes.
Union 4, Princeton 3 (OT)
The Union Dutchmen escaped with a 4-3 overtime win at Princeton on Friday night after surrendering a two-goal third period lead. Ryan Kuffner struck first for Princeton just 3:33 in, but Union responded with three straight second period goals by Ryan Scarfo, Anthony Rinadli, and Sean Harrison to carry a 3-1 lead into the third.
Kuffner’s second of the game and Max Vironneau’s tally at 14:15 of the third were enough to force overtime, but Sebastian Vidmar saved the day for Union, scoring the game-winner with just 26 seconds to play in the extra period.
