Clarkson hurt by slow start

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A sluggish start in the championship game of the Ohio Hockey Classic proved costly for the Clarkson University men's hockey team Saturday night.

The Golden Knights lost 2-0 to host Ohio State (13-6-1) before a crowd of 4,902 at the Value City Arena.

Clarkson (3-11-4 overall) was coming off a 4-2 upset of No. 2 Miami (Ohio) but the Golden Knights did not get off to a strong start in Saturday's game, as Ohio State outshot the Golden Knights 15-4 in the first period.

The Buckeyes also scored at 7 minutes, 22 seconds of the opening period when Hunter Bishop tipped-in a shot from Shane Sims.

"We just weren't ready," Clarkson coach George Roll said. "They beat us to loose pucks and we just didn't come out with any conviction of what we needed to do."

Clarkson's sluggish start surprised Roll, especially after the way his team played in Friday's victory.

"I thought coming off last night's game we'd at least start the game ready to go and we didn't," Roll said. "You have to give (Ohio State) credit. They are a good hockey club. They are playing well right now."

Clarkson recovered from its bad start in Saturday's game to play well in the last two periods, but never could get any shots past Buckeyes goalie Dustin Carlson, who finished with 24 saves.

The Golden Knights outshot Ohio State 20-19 in the final two periods.

"After the first I thought we played much better, and it was a pretty even hockey game," Roll said. "But you can't afford to play only 40 minutes and expect to win."

One bright spot for Clarkson was the play of freshman goalie Paul Karpowich, who had another strong showing, stopping 32 of 33 shots. Ohio State's last goal was an empty-netter by Zac Delpe with 41 seconds left in the game.

"It was an outstanding weekend, not only the saves he made but the rebound control and lack of rebounds," Roll said of Karpowich. "For a freshman to come in here against those two teams and play the way he did, he gave our team a chance to win both nights."

While Roll was disappointed with the play of his team Saturday, he was happy with the weekend in general as Clarkson snapped a school-record, 11-game winless streak (0-9-2) in Friday's contest.

Roll said he hopes his team picked up some confidence heading into a pair of home-and-home nonconference games against rival St. Lawrence University this weekend.

"I hope so," Roll said. "If you look over the entire weekend, against two very good teams, I thought we competed at a very good level. Now that it's over with, I thought we played much closer to the way we are capable."

nNOTES:Former Salmon River playerIan Bootsskated on Ohio State's third forward line Saturday and finished with a plus-one rating and had three shots on goal. Boots, a freshman, was kept off the scoresheet but does rank fourth on the team in scoring with six goals and 10 assists through 18 games.