NCAA Matchup of the Week: Clarkson v St. Lawrence

Back to the rivalry board with this one. Clarkson and St. Lawrence face off in a home-and-home series. They’ll start in Canton, NY on Friday at 3 p.m. before heading to Potsdam on Saturday at 3 p.m.

These teams met earlier in the season in a pair of non-conference games but now ECAC points are on the line as we have a home-and-home between these two heated rivals.  Both teams come in ranked and having been swept by conference foes.

William Whyte: Clarkson 4-0, 3-1. Clarkson has the best top line in the country and St. Lawrence doesn’t have the firepower to create pressure at the other end.

Valerie Fox: I think Clarkson comes out angry and sweeps this. Rivalry games are always weird, so you never know (especially since the Saints have already taken out their North Country rivals once this season), but coming off two tough losses last weekend to Colgate and Cornell that knocked them off their pedestal as the best team in the east (at least according to USCHO and TIG poll voters), they’ll be more motivated than they’ve been all season.

Eleni Demestihas: Both these teams are coming off of two losses. They’ve played each other twice this season and split those two games, so I’m inclined to say this is a tossup. However, St. Lawrence has a slightly better record within their conference, so I’m going to give them the edge. I do think the game will be close. I’m going to say St. Lawrence takes it 3-2 or 4-3.

Grant Salzano: On paper, this is Clarkson heavily favored. In reality, it’s two teams who don’t really seem to know how to beat someone good. Both got swept last weekend at Cornell and Colgate, and neither has done much of anything to impress this year.

That said, at some point, despite Clarkson underwhelming this year, the cream tends to rise to the top. The Knights are talented enough to get the sweep, and I think they will. Normally you’d think a rivalry came might make things closer, but I think the extra motivation might be what Clarkson needs to find its groove.

Nathan Vaughan: This is a tough pick to make.  Clarkson has had the upper hand in recent years but a split on home ice lines earlier in the season shows it might be a bit tighter this season.  Clarkson has struggled as others have mentioned and a weekend sweep would send them into the holidays in a much more confident mood.  I feel like they will pull off that sweep, and as a Husky fan can only hope they get very overconfident before traversing the Atlantic in the New Year.

KRACH: Our trusty calculator made available to us by Grant Salzano gives Clarkson a 64.2% chance of beating St. Lawrence.

GRaNT: The Grant rankings, created by Grant Salzano, can give score predictions and predicts a 3-2 Clarkson victory, (3.11- 1.99).