Harvard 5, Clarkson 1

It was a rough night for Clarkson as the Golden Knights fell in an early 3-0 hole and then lost junior Matt Beca to an injury in a 5-1 loss to Harvard in an ECAC Hockey contest at the Bright Hockey Center.
After the game Clarkson coach George Roll said Beca would not play tonight against Dartmouth and he was not sure of his status past that point. Clarkson is 1-4-2 in its last seven games at Thompson Arena.

Here were five key points I had jotted down before the game:

*Crunch time - Clarkson had a six-game win streak against Harvard, but three of the wins saw the game tied with four minutes left. ((This point turned out to be moot once Clarkson fell behind early))

*Special teams - This continues to be an issue for the Golden Knights. Clarkson was 4 of 44 on the power play coming in and went 0 for 6 Friday night. Even worse, the Golden Knights gave up two power-play goals for a second straight game as Harvard went 2 for 5. This was the one area Roll was disappointed in, saying, "We had some breakdowns on the penalty kill, that's what I'm frustrated with."

* Defense - Clarkson had been outshot in four of its first six games and was 1-2-1 in those contests. Despite giving up five goals, Clarkson didn't really play a bad defensive game Friday. The Golden Knights actually outshot Harvard 24-23, but did give up 11 shots on goal in the third period.

* Have a good first two - Clarkson, believe it or not, has only led after the second period one time all season, and that came in the opening game against RIT. This, clearly, did not go Clarkson's way Friday as the Golden Knights were in a 4-1 hole heading into the third period.

* Avoid penalties - Clarkson was averaging 9.5 a game coming in and did take just five on Friday. But two penalties on aggressive hits by Mark Borowiecki and Tim Marks wound up leading to Harvard goals.