Clarkson, going 5-1 in the last 6 games, appears to have regained their
winning ways and are peaking at the right time.  Two dominant road wins
and the collapse of St. Lawrence puts Clarkson in second place, three
points behind Harvard.
 
Friday Night at Ingalls Rink, New Haven, Conn.
 
Goals:
Clarkson  2 3 1- 6
Yale      0 1 1- 2
 
Goalies: Clarkson, Currie (31 saves), Yale, Hockin (14 saves), Sullivan
      (14 saves).
 
Power Play: Clarkson 0 for 2, Yale 0 for 2
 
Scoring:
 
1st Period
1. CU, Tuomainen (Belanger, Tavi) 6:32
2. CU, Belanger (d'Orsonnens) 17:43
 
2nd Period
3. CU, Belanger (Conroy, Torrey) 2:28
4. CU, Dubinsky (Belanger) 3:25
5. CU, Fotheringham (Dubinsky, Mueller) 3:36
6. YU, Matasovich (Sather) 19:18
 
3rd Period
7. YU, Blazer (Mackey, Kaufmann) 7:12
8. CU, Fotheringham (Dubinsky) 9:34
 
Yale was undefeated at home going into this game.  That and the close
game at Cheel promised a good close game.  It was a good game, but
hardly close as the Hugo Belanger show caught on fire and helped light
the lamp on Clarkson's first four goals.  Belanger, point #1: Tavi
clears the Clarkson up to Belanger.  Belanger skates in and puts a big
shot on Hockin who reaches to make the save.  However, the rebound goes
to Tuomainen who was rushing the net from the other side.  Toumainen
just slides the puck into the net with out a Yale defenseman in sight.
Clarkson continues to pressure Yale and Hockin, including two shots that
go off the pipe.  Belanger, point #2:  Martin d'Orsonnens fires a slap
shot from the point through a screen of players.  One of which being
Belanger who redirects the shot pass a blinded Hockin.  The first period
ends with Clarkson leading 2-0.  Clarkson is 13-0-0 (15-0-0 now) when
leading after one period.  Belanger, point #3:  Hugo wastes no time in
starting the scoring for the second period.  Conroy and Torrey combine
to get the puck to Belanger deep in the slot, from where he wrists the
puck high to Hockin's stick side.  Belanger, point #4:  Belanger gets
his fourth point and chases Hockin out of the game.  Belanger carries
the puck in, one on three, holds up at the right face off circle to pass
the puck over to Dubinsky.  Dubinsky was streaking into the Yale zone
all alone and has no difficulty in beating Hockin.  Fotheringham, goal
#1:  Shawn Fotheringham wastes no time in greeting the new goalie,
Sullivan.  Fotheringham walked into the left wing circle and put the
first shot on Sullivan in the bottom right corner.  Yale gets a power
play chance 6 minutes into the period and starts to generate some
offensive pressure.  Matasovich finally scores for Yale late in the
period with Clarkson thinking about the up coming intermission.  It
appears that Yale might attempt a come back in the third period when
Blazer puts a second rebound in over Currie who was on his knees.
Fotheringham, goal #2:  A pretty 2 on 1 with Dubinsky and Fotheringham
just over two minutes later finishes the scoring.  Mueller cleared to
Dubinsky on the left.  Dubinsky skates down the left wing as
Fotheringham chases and catches up with the play.  Dubinsky draws the
defenseman and Sullivan before he passes it over to Fotheringham.
Fotheringham takes the pass on the back hand and puts into his empty
side of the net.
 
Saturday Night at Hobey Baker Rink, Princeton, NJ
 
Goals:
Clarkson   1 1 2- 4
Princeton  0 0 0- 0
 
Saves:  Currie (36), York (32)
 
PP: Clarkson 1 for 4, Princeton 0 for 7
 
Clarkson manages to switch from offense to defense to shut out Princeton
for the second time this year.  Clarkson was able to stymie the
Princeton power play that scored three goals against SLU.
 
Scoring:
1st
1. CU, Conroy (Sanderson) :51  (4 on 4)
 
2nd
2. CU, Conroy (Sanderson, Tavi) 7:11
 
3rd
3. CU, Torrey (Dubinsky, Sanderson) 11:57 (pp)
4. CU, Dubinsky (Fotheringham, Mueller) 17:11
 
Clarkson dominated this period and most of the game.  A strong defensive
effort held Faust, Morris and the other Princeton scorers at bay.  This
included killing 1:17 of a Princeton 5 on 3 pp at the end of the second
period.  Conroy started the scoring early with both teams skating 4 on
4.  Belanger and Sanderson started a Clarkson rush into the Princeton
zone.  Sanderson got the puck to Conroy who beat York high.  In the
second period, Conroy continued to play well.  Conroy had skated from the
 left circle to the corner and out to the
slot unmolested before slipping a back hander between York's pads.
Torrey put in a second rebound to make the score 3-0 on the power play
in the third period.  Finally, Fotheringham pays back Dubinsky for the
previous nights goal as the two again skate in on a two on one to beat
York.
 
Clarkson's two wins and SLU's stumble, leaves Clarkson and Harvard to
fight it out for the regular season title.  And to make things more
exciting, for us Clarkson fans, Harvard comes to visit the North Country
this weekend!  Clarkson is three points behind.  Clarkson needs to beat
Harvard Friday night and beat Brown Saturday night.  All Clarkson needs
SLU to do is tie Harvard.  Clarkson has already tied Harvard, and would
win the tie breaker if they tied on points (which is only possible if
Clarkson beats Harvard).  Clarkson has been playing like they should and
should be up for the weekend's games.  As should SLU be in an attempt to
regain some dignity and faith for the play-offs.
 
Congratulations to Team USA on a great Olympic effort.  The team played
great games and should not be ashamed off losing to the Unified team or
the Czechs.  A medal would have been nice, but we all know that they
gave it their all.
 
Mike Zak
Clarkson '87, '90
Miracle on Ice 1980 eye witness