Brockport dropped to 0-2 on the season after losing its home opener to Clarkson 17-7. The Golden Eagles hoped to bounce back from their loss against St. John Fisher on Feb. 17.
The Golden Eagles got out to a hot start in the first quarter. Not even two minutes into the quarter, Nick Askin scored two goals on Brockport’s first two shots of the game. It looked like the Golden Eagles would carry this momentum throughout the rest of the game but Clarkson would quickly answer back.
The Golden Knights picked up six unanswered goals the rest of the quarter, giving Clarkson an 8-2 lead. This was thanks to Sebastian Geiger, Matt Reilly, Andrew Kearney, Alex Seiler, Brendan Tersolo and Sam Mancabelli.
The Golden Eagles’ defense was inconsistent when it came to defensive communication and slides. They weren’t the only ones who struggled as goalie Jack Acker was inconsistent in net when it came to saving shots from the perimeter. Clarkson’s offense moved the ball effectively and multiple times they quickly cut towards Brockport’s crease, getting behind the defense.
The second quarter wasn’t any better for Brockport. Kearney picked up two more goals to record a hat trick for Clarkson. The unanswered goal streak was finally broken by Brockport after Askin scored his third goal of the game for the hat trick. Although this helped the Golden Eagles regain some energy, they lost it quickly. Seiler, Reilly and Geiger recorded the next three goals for Clarkson, giving them an 11-3 lead going into halftime.
Brockport made a big personnel change to start the third quarter. With inconsistent play from Acker, freshman goalie Gavin Miller was thrown in net. Miller made two huge saves to start the quarter, one on a breakaway. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, it didn’t take too long for the Golden Knights to find the back of the net again.
Reilly picked up his third goal of the game to increase Clarkson’s lead. Less than a minute later, Geigner also scored his third goal for the Golden Knights.
After giving up two goals, the Golden Eagles’ defense was quicker on slides and was communicating effectively. Clarkson started to struggle to maintain that offensive rhythm they had for over half of the game.
Brockport responded to Clarkson’s two goals with two of their own. Askin scored his fourth of the game and Jackson Worden picked up one on a side arm shot on the run. Although Brockport managed to respond, their offense struggled to consistently score.
The Golden Eagles took many shots that didn’t end up being on goal and Clarkson’s goalie Griffin Emerson was a brick wall between the pipes. He recorded 14 total saves throughout the first three-quarters of the game.
Clarkson continued their scoring rampage in the fourth quarter, with Tyler Hall and Seiler scoring the next two goals. At almost the six-minute mark, Emerson went to the bench to get backup goalie Eric Gellasch in the game.
The last couple of minutes saw a lot of action. Robert Fox scored for Clarkson to give them a 16-5 lead. Askin responded with his fifth goal of the game for the Golden Eagles.
Not even a minute later, Clarkson would respond with James Rourke scoring. With 11 seconds left, Nick Maslin picked up one last goal for Brockport to have them down 17-7 to end the game. Although Brockport didn’t get the win, head coach Colin Cornaire was happy with the small wins during the game.
“For us as a team and as a program, just executing the things that we can execute,” Cornaire said. “We’ll consider that as a win. However the scoreboard reflects that, we’ll take it.”
The Golden Eagles will look for their first win of the season when they play Ohio Northern at home on Saturday. The game is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
