ECAC Hockey: Clarkson Sweeps Niagara on the Road

While much of college hockey was busy with exhibition games, four teams did play games that counted this first weekend of the season. Clarkson, picked 11th by both the coaches and the media in ECAC preseason polls, swept Atlantic Hockey favorite Niagara. Ferris State, part of the new WCHA, split a road series at Colgate.

Casey Jones, entering his third season behind the bench in Potsdam, led his Golden Knights to a sweep of Niagara at Dwyer Arena. Two road victories will surely boost the confidence of a young Clarkson team picked to finish second-to-last in the ECAC. Allan McPherson, the team's top returning scorer, scored a goal and an assist on the weekend. Sophomore Greg Lewis and freshman Steve Perry split the goaltending duties with the rookie picking up the shutout on Sunday.

It was a tale of two different games in Hamilton this weekend. Don Vaughn's Colgate club jumped out to an early 2-0 lead over Ferris State before falling 7-4 on Saturday. For as much as game one was offensive, game two was a defensive battle. The Red Raiders avenged Saturday's loss with a 1-0 shutout victory. Eric Mihalik stopped all 25 shots he faced. The weekend also marked the return of defenseman Spiro Goulakos to the Colgate lineup. The Montreal native missed the second half of last season as he battled cancer. Goulakos' cancer is in remission, according to the school.

Jeff Cox covers college and junior hockey, NCAA recruiting, NHL Draft prospects and the AHL for SBNation. Follow him on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.