BRIDGEPORT, CONN. – Just 16 teams remain alive in the 2017-18 college hockey season so it stands to reason that every matchup from here on out will be tough.
Friday’s second semifinal at the NCAA East Regional will be a difficult task for each team, but for different reasons. Providence will look to avenge two losses earlier in the season to Clarkson while the Golden Knights will have the unenviable charge of knocking off a Nate Leaman coached team for a third time.
Clarkson won, 4-0, in Potsdam before taking another game, 4-2, in the championship game of the Friendship Four in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Both games took place in the first two months of the season when both teams were vastly different.
The Golden Knights started off 18-3-1, but struggled down the stretch, going 5-7-5 over their last 17 games. On the contrary, the Friars wavered out of the gate with a 10-7-1 record over their first 18 games. Leaman’s squad has turned things around, finishing the season 13-4-3 over its last 20.