Yale Snaps Clarkson's Streak

Clarkson's streak of 21 unbeaten ECAC Hockey home games was snapped Saturday when Yale picked up a 3-2 win over the Golden Knights in Cheel Arena.

Here were a few key points I had made up before the game:

*Saturday night wins - Last year Clarkson was 8-0-1 at home in the second game of a weekend and 10-3-2 overall. But so far this season Clarkson is not fairing as well on Saturdays, with an 0-2-1 record, not including last weekend's exhibition loss to Carleton.

*Special teams improvement - Clarkson had a rough night on special teams, despite scoring a power-play goal. The Golden Knights were 1 of 10 on the power play, but did take 11 shots. But Clarkson gave up two power-play goals to Yale.

*Cut down penalties - Clarkson is averaging 9.6 a game and took another nine tonight.

* Strong third periods - Entering Saturday's game Clarkson had outscored the opposition 5-2 in the third period, but the Golden Knights were outscored 2-1 Saturday and outshot 14-7 in the final 20 minutes.

* Get Beca involved - like freshman Nick Tremblay Friday, Clarkson needed to get Matt Beca involved in the offense more. He had just one goal this season heading into Saturday's game, but did score the first goal of the contest.

BONUS QUOTES

Yale coach Keith Allain, a former St. Louis Blues goalie coach, on Clarkson's Paul Karpowich, a Blues draft pick:
"I think he's really good. I was talking to a St. Louis scout last week and they told me how happy they are with him. They feel they got a steal."

Clarkson coach George Roll on Yale and if they could possibly be similar to Princeton last year, a team picked low in preseason polls who makes some noise:
"They have good team speed and go to the net hard. If they get goaltending, they are extremely quick and move the puck well."

Roll on what he liked Saturday:
"I thought we worked hard. I thought our competitive-level was better and we battled a lot more than last night. Obviously our power-play has to be better and I take responsibility for that."

Roll and Tyrell Mason on the upcoming road trip to Harvard/Dartmouth:
Roll, "It might be good. Sometimes it's good to get on the road and get refocused as a team. It's two tough places to play, but we'll be up for the challenge."
Mason, "I think it will be good to go on the road and get in the mindset that we have to outwork our opponents every night. When you don't have the home crowd you have to generate your own momentum."