Shawn Weller’s goal at 2:33 of overtime lifted Clarkson to a 4-3 win over Princeton on Friday night at Cheel Arena. The game was a see-saw battle as neither team could open a two-goal lead throughout the night.
Clarkson had the first few good scoring chances of the opening period but it was Princeton that scored first at the 11:05 mark. Off a scramble in front of the Clarkson net, senior Brian Carthas banked a shot from behind the net off of Clarkson goaltender David Leggio and into the goal to give Princeton the 1-0 lead. The goal was Carthas’ first of the season.
Clarkson answered back 2:01 later when Weller chipped a shot over the blocker-hand of Princeton freshman goaltender Thomas Sychterz. Shea Guthrie fed a pass from the corner into the slot area and Weller lofted it into the upper corner to even the score at 1-1. Leggio, Clarkson’s goaltender, assisted on the goal.
The second period played out similarly to the first with Princeton scoring first to take a 2-1 lead and Clarkson answering to send a tie-game to the intermission.
After a Clarkson chance in the Princeton end, Goecker-Zoeller received a pass in the neutral zone and played the puck through a Clarkson defenders skates to get a breakaway. Goeckner-Zoeller was hooked as he drove to the net and referee Alex Dell called for a penalty shot. Goeckner-Zoeller faked a forehand shot before going to the backhand and sliding the puck through the legs of Leggio.
Clarkson answered with just 29 seconds left in the period when Chris D’Alvise made a diving pass to Brodie Rutherglen who one-timed the puck by Sychterz to even the score at 2-2.
The back-and-forth action continued into the third period. The score remained knotted until Clarkson’s Mike Sullivan made the score 3-2 when he redirected a Nick Dodge pass by Sychterz. The goal came on the power play.
This time Princeton bounced back from a Clarkson lead as the Tigers knotted the score at 3-3 with 2:07 remaining. The Tiger forecheck resulted in a turnover in the Clarkson end that junior Kevin Westgarth threw in front. Sophomore Kyle Hagel got a swipe at it but the puck bounced to freshman Brett Wilson who buried it for his second goal of the year.
The score remained tied through the end of regulation and the game went to overtime. Each team pressured in the extra frame, but a point shot that changed direction a few times on its way to the net proved the deciding goal. The point shot came from Grant Clitsome who took it off a face-off win by Steve Zalewski, and Weller was the the last to redirect the puck.
Princeton fell to 2-5-0 overall and 1-4-0 in the ECAC Hockey League with the loss while Clarkson improved to 7-3-1 overall and 3-1-1 in the league.
Sychterz finished his first career start with 27 saves while Leggio made 20 saves for Clarkson.
