Rensselaer Preview

Clarkson (3-6 overall, 0-2 ECAC Hockey) hopes to improve to 4-0 at home tonight and snap a four-game losing streak as it hosts Rensselaer (6-3-1, 2-0) at 7 p.m.

The Golden Knights are 0-6 away from Cheel Arena, but all of Clarkson's road losses have come against ranked teams: No. 14 Michigan State, No. 18 Minnesota-Duluth, No. 19 Princeton and No. 20 Quinnipiac.

RPI is looking for its first winning season since going 22-15-2 in 2003-04. The Engineers were 10-27-2 a year ago but have gotten off to a strong start this season.

Tonight's game will be the fourth on the road for the Engineers, who are 1-1-1, including a 1-1 tie on Oct. 17 at No. 9 Alaska.

Clarkson Coach George Roll on RPI

"RPI is coming into our building with some momentum after getting the league sweep at home this past weekend. They have done a nice job of scoring and their goaltending has been very good. RPI is a much different team than we have seen in the past. Their skill level is very good."

Stat of the Night

This game could be decided in the first 20 minutes. Clarkson is 0-5 this season in games where it does not have a lead after the opening 20 minutes. RPI has been behind after the first period just once this season, and lost that contest.

Who to Watch

Clarkson:Senior Matt Beca has four goals and four assists in six career games against the Engineers. Senior Tim Marks has one goal and four assists. Junior Brandon DeFazio has two goals in four games and sophomore Nick Tremblay had one goal and one assist in two games last season. Goalie Richie LaVeau, who has started most Friday games this season, has never faced RPI. Goalie Paul Karpowich is 2-0 with a 2.46 goals-against average and a .902 save percentage.

RPI:Junior Tyler Helfrich has two goals and four assists against Clarkson. Chase Polacek has one goal and three assists and Bryan Brutlag has two goals and two assists. Goalie Allen York stopped 21 shots in a 4-2 loss to Clarkson last season.

Last Meeting

Clarkson scored twice in each of the first two periods to gain a 4-2 win at the Houston Field House on Feb. 27. It was the last road win for the Golden Knights, who have dropped nine straight since. Bryan Rufenach and Louke Oakley scored the first-period goals and Nick Tremblay and Brandon DeFazio had the second-period goals. RPI received third-period goals from Chase Polacek and Tyler Helfrich. Clarkson outshot the Engineers 23-19 and limited RPI to only seven shots combined in the first two periods.

Stats and Notes

RPI's seniors have never defeated Clarkson, going 0-5-1 the last three years, including the overtime loss at Cheel Arena last season. ... RPI's Helfrich may miss this weekend's games with an ankle injury he suffered on Oct. 24 in a 3-2 win over American International. He has not played since, but will make the trip this weekend. ... North country road trips have not been kind to RPI, which is a combined 31-80-7 in games in Canton and Potsdam. ... RPI is 0-3-1 with two or less goals this season and 6-0 when it scores at least three. ... This weekend's homestand marks the only games at Cheel Arena in Nov. Clarkson will play at Harvard and Dartmouth next weekend and close out the month with a game at Boston College the day after Thanksgiving. ... Ten of Clarkson's 23 goals this season have come in the first period. The Golden Knights have allowed 26 of the 33 goals they've given up in the second and third periods. ... Clarkson's best shooter this season has been Tim Marks, who is connecting 28.6 percent of the time. But he averages just one shot a game. Adam Pawlick, who has three goals, has scored 21.4 percent of the time and Matt Beca, who has six goals, is scoring on 20 percent of his shots. Defenseman Bryan Rufenach leads the team in shots, with 32, despite missing one game. Beca has taken 30 shots and Mark Borowiecki and Brandon DeFazio are tied with 23 shots.