Latest defeat darkens mood for Golden Knights

POTSDAM — Saturday's 5-1 loss to Union College, in an ECAC Hockey game at Cheel Arena on Saturday night, left the Clarkson University men's hockey team in a somber mood.

There was a long discussion in the locker room after the game, which was the sixth straight loss for the Golden Knights (3-8 overall, 0-4 conference).

"We're just not handling adversity very well right now," said Clarkson coach George Roll. "It's as humbling a defeat as I've had here, especially at home. We still have time to right the ship."

Now, after losing two straight home games, Clarkson faces the challenge of snapping a nine-game losing streak on the road, which dates back to last season. The next four games for the Golden Knights will be at Dartmouth, Harvard, Boston College and St. Lawrence University.

An 0-9-2 stretch last season, largely in the first semester, played a big role in Clarkson staggering to a 10-19-7 overall record, and it's something the players hope to avoid repeating.

"It's to the point of the year right now where it's either stay bad or get better," said senior Tim Marks. "When you are at rock bottom there's only one way to go, and it's up. It takes some hard work. It's not the coaches' fault or the trainer's fault. It's no one's fault but the guy who puts the jersey on.

"Next weekend has got to be the turning point of our season. Everyone takes it hard when you lose. A loss like tonight hurts a little more because the effort wasn't there. It's a tough pill to swallow when you play like that. It's never fun to lose, but it's a lot easier to swallow when you play good. A loss like tonight is not our team. It's not Clarkson hockey. It's unacceptable."

Things didn't start off that bleak for the Golden Knights. Clarkson scored the first goal of the game during a power play at 18 minutes, 51 seconds of the opening period when Brandon DeFazio backhanded a rebound of a shot from Bryan Rufenach past Union goalie Keith Kincaid.

But Union (5-3-3, 2-0-2) struck for two goals just 20 seconds apart in the first minute of the second period and Clarkson never recovered.

The first goal was an odd one as Clarkson goalie Richie LaVeau went behind his net to play the puck. His pass wound up on the stick of Union's Andrew Buote and before LaVeau could get back to the crease, Union's Mario Valery-Trabucco was putting a shot into a wide-open net at the 29-second mark.

Jason Walters scored exactly 20 seconds later on a shot that deflected off the skate of Rufenach.

"We let in a goal like that and it just seems like we can't bounce back," Roll said. "It's a 1-1 game and before you know it, it's 3-1 or 4-1."

Union scored again at 3:36 on a give-and-go with Buote and Jason Shaffer, with Buote scoring. A fourth goal came at 16:04 of the period on a three-on-one breakaway as Kelly Zajac decided to keep the puck and beat LaVeau with a shot over the glove.

It continued a trend this season of bad second periods for the Golden Knights. Clarkson has been outscored 22-7 in the second period this season and outshot 153-83.

"We haven't got much puck luck this year and that first goal just snowballs from there," said Roll. "You can't say we're not in condition because we've played good in the third period. I think it's just more mental than anything. We give up one or two and it's almost like, 'Here we go again.' You've got to battle through that adversity and we haven't handled it well."

Union scored another power-play goal at 2:11 of the third period when Stephane Boileau was credited with a goal on a shot that appeared to bounce off the ice, hit his body and go into the net.

"I think tonight we got a couple bounces," said Union coach Nate Leaman. "We got a bounce on that first goal and obviously the last goal."