Clarkson’s season-opening road trip has not gone as planned. The Golden Knights lost their third straight game by falling 5-4 at Wayne State on Saturday afternoon.
“I thought we played hard tonight, but we did a lot of little things that cost us,” said Clarkson head coach George Roll. “We were undisciplined when it came to some of the penalties. We just have to make better decisions. We turned the puck over at crucial times and that cost us goals.
“The effort was there today, but we are not all on the same page. We will get better. Right now we just have to find a way to get out of this losing streak.”
Saturday’s game started out well enough for the Green and Gold with Clarkson jumping to a 2-0 lead six minutes in. Sophomore Mike Sullivan finished off a play in front knocking in his second goal of the season 27 seconds after the opening faceoff with his linemates, seniors Mac Faulkner and Chris Blight, assisting.
Sophomore defenseman Nathan Beausoleil connected for a power-play goal when his shot from the point found its way through a maze of players at 5:28.
Wayne State battled back to tie it with a pair of goals late in the first period. Stavros Paskaris scored on the power play at 7:18 and Jason Bloomingburg tallied a break-away goal at 14:44.
Just 32 seconds later, Clarkson went back on top as sophomore Brodie Rutherglen scored on a quick wrist shot from the slot after senior Jay Latulippe on a face off to give the Green and Gold a 3-2 lead through 20 minutes
After Mike Forgie tied it for Wayne State with a power-play goal to start the second, at 7:46, freshman Nick Dodge picked up a loose puck at the side of the net and put a shot under the crossbar to give the Knights a 4-3 advantage.
Bloomingburg opened the third scoring his second of the day at 1:35, and then completed the hat trick scoring on a 3-on-1 break for the game-winner at 15;15.
The Knights out shot Wayne State, 28-23. Sophomore Kyle McNulty made 18 saves. Clarkson went 1-of-9 on the power play, while the Warriors were 2-of-8 with the man advantage.
