Clarkson's win over Penn State marks the program's first victory over a Big Ten team.
POTSDAM -- Clarkson University played a bruising defensive men's hockey game and upset No. 10 Penn State 2-1 in the nonconference opener for both teams before 2,317 fans Friday night at Cheel Arena.
The Golden Knights gave up 39 shots, but sophomore goalie Jake Kielly was ready for the challenge and Clarkson held the top offensive team in the nation last year to just one power-play goal.
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"It was awesome," Kielly said. "When you get 30-plus shots you are into the game right away, it doesn't matter the quality of the shots. Just seeing the puck in the first game of the year like that was awesome and playing a big-school name like that and coming out with a win was awesome. I thought everybody did a great job blocking shots. The way we executed what we were supposed to execute going into the game was phenomenal."
The Knight in full battle armour! Only thing missing is you in one of the seats behind him! Fri @ 7 vs @PennStateMHKY pic.twitter.com/eCrdDi0Dld
— ClarksonHockey (@ClarksonHockey1) October 5, 2017
Clarkson blocked 11 shots, led by three from sophomore defenseman Jordan Schneider, and made many big hits against the Nittany Lions, who reached the NCAA quarterfinals last year. Schneider also joined the hard hitting, making contact with a pane of glass near the blue line that came loose in the first period, causing a five-minute delay.
Senior defenseman Kelly Summers twice knocked Penn State players to the ice with open-ice checks and senior defenseman Terrance Amorosa checked another Nittany Lion into Clarkson's bench, making a second hit as he was falling.
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"We want to play a hard game," Clarkson coach Casey Jones said. "We want to play fast and we want to play hard. I thought we blocked shots and we competed really hard. That's all we are asking as coaches. We want to play 200 feet and we ask our kids to be committed to the (defensive) side. I thought Jake was good tonight. I thought it was our compete level that allowed us to do that. I thought it was a good hockey game."
Clarkson did not waste any time putting pressure on Penn State as junior Marly Quince scored the first goal of the season just 14 seconds after the opening faceoff.
Penn State turned the puck over in its own zone and Amorosa sent a pass to junior forward Juho Jokiharju, who then made a quick pass across the crease to Quince, who sent the puck into a big open corner of the net.
.@clarksonhockey1 knocks off #10 Penn State 2-1 in season-opener for its first win over a Big 10 program.https://t.co/FMHsbhCXUt
— ClarksonAthletics (@ClarksonUSports) October 7, 2017
It was a special moment for Quince who struggled all season to find a way into the lineup last year. He sat out the first seven games a year ago and 19 of the first 20. He eventually found a spot in Clarkson's last four playoff games and then used the season as motivation this summer, coming in ready to play.
"I really worked this summer, hard, to get into the lineup," Quince said. "I didn't want another year like last year. I'll take this first game, but there are still many more to come."
Clarkson extended its lead to 2-0 at 13 minutes, 24 seconds of the second period on a slap shot by Summers, with Amorosa and sophomore Sheldon Rempal assisting.
"It was an overall good shift," Summers said of the goal. "Amorosa passed it to me across the ice and I was just trying to get the shot off as soon as possible and (Devin Brosseau) was in front with a nice screen."
But Brosseau took a penalty just 63 seconds after the goal and Penn State capitalized with a power-play goal from Brandon Biro at 14:40 of the second period to cut the lead to 2-1.
Penn State played an aggressive third period, outshooting Clarkson 16-9, but the Nittany Lions couldn't get another shot past Kielly.
This article is written by Cap Carey from Watertown Daily Times, N.Y. and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.
