Scoresheet | RPI Athletics on FacebookPOTSDAM, N.Y. - Senior Joe Zarbo scored two goals to lead Clarkson University to a 5-0 victory over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in in game two of a best-of-three series ECAC Hockey First Round Playoff Series on Saturday at Cheel Arena. With the win, the Golden Knights improve to 12-19-5 and force a third and deciding game on Sunday night at 7pm. The loss drops the Engineers, who won the first game, 3-2, to 11-24-3.Junior Jeff Di Nallo (Aurora, ON/Newmarket Hurricanes) opened the scoring just 1:35 into the first period after a giveaway by the Engineers at their own blue line. Freshman Janick Asselin (Coaticook, PQ/Sherbrooke Cougars) broke in on the left side before firing a pass across to DiNallo, who buried a shot into an open net. The tally was his sixth of the season.
RPI's best chance came midway through the opening stanza, after a centering pass by senior
Zach Schroeder (Prior Lake, MN/St. Thomas Academy) found freshman
Viktor Liljegren (Stockholm, Sweden/Fairbanks Ice Dogs) on the doorstep. Liljegren was denied by Clarkson sophomore goaltender Steve Perry (Ligonier, PA/Fairbanks Ice Dogs), but the puck popped right to junior
Milos Bubela (Banska Bystrica, Slovakia/Dubuque Fighting Saints), who was also robbed by Perry.
Zarbo (Grand Island, NY/Wellington Dukes) then netted the first of his two goals in the game, one-timing a feed from freshman blueliner Terrance Amorosa (Kirland, ON/Sioux City Musketeers) past RPI junior netminder
Jason Kasdorf (Winnipeg, MB/Des Moines Bucs) from the right circle. That goal came only 1:17 into the second.
Three minutes later, sophomore Troy Josephs (Whitby, ON/St. Michael's Buzzers) redirected a shot by classmate A.J. Fossen (Maple Grove, MN/Dubuque Fighting Saints) into the net to give the hosts a 3-0 advantage. Freshman Sam Vigneault (Baie-Comeau, PQ/A.L. Boomerang) picked up the second helper on Josephs' third of the year.
Clarkson opened the third period with a tally 26 seconds in when Vigneault finished off a pass from Josephs to make it 4-0. Fossen also had an assist on Vigneault's sixth goal. The Engineers lifted Kasdorf for senior
Scott Diebold (Buffalo, NY/Tri-City Storm) following the marker.
Zarbo capped the scoring at 13:01 of the third, netting his team-leading 11th goal of the campaign, from junior Pat Megannety (Oakville, ON/Georgetown Raiders) and freshman Brett Gervais (Corona, CA/Fairbanks Ice Dogs).
Perry (8-7-1) made 24 saves to earn the shutout. Kasdorf (10-17-2) finished with 24 stops, while Diebold had three in the 19:34. Both teams finished 0 for 4 on the power play, with Clarkson winning 37 of the 64 faceoffs.
