Clarkson Women Earn NCAA Berth After Loss

POTSDAM - Rewarded for its 23-11-5 record, the Clarkson University Women's Hockey team has earned an at-large bid into the 2010 NCAA Women's Hockey Tournament. The Golden Knights will play at the University of Minnesota in the first NCAA postseason game in the program's seven-year history.

The Golden Knights and Golden Gophers (25-8-5) will faceoff in this Saturday, March 13 at Ridder Arena in Minneapolis, MN. at 4 p.m. CST. The Gophers shutout the Green and Gold twice (4-0, 2-0) at Ridder Arena on Nov. 27-28.

Clarkson fell just short in its bid to earn the ECAC Hockey Tournament Championship when it lost 4-3 in overtime to Cornell on Sunday evening in Ithaca, NY.

Eight teams are selected for the NCAA championship. Of the eight teams, the top four teams will be seeded.

The automatic qualifying conferences and their representatives are the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, University of Minnesota Duluth; ECAC Hockey, Cornell University; and Hockey East Association, Boston University. Clarkson University, Harvard University, Mercyhurst College, the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, and the University of New Hampshire were all selected as at-large teams.

Cornell 4 - Clarkson 3: On Sunday Clarkson staged a furious comeback that saw three scores in less than 19 minutes of action to force overtime in the ECAC Championship game at Cornell.

In overtime, both teams had their chances, but it was a slight misplay behind the net that gave Cornell its chance. The Knights were unable to clear the puck behind the net, and Liz Zorn was able to corral the loose puck, and the left wing sent it out to center Kendice Oglive in front, who flicked the puck into the net for the game-winner. Melissa Waldie scored the first two goals in Clarkson three-goal rally and Britney Selina netted the equalier late in the third period.