The University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team earned its first win of the season Saturday night in Potsdam, N.Y., beating Clarkson, 5-3.
The Golden Knights jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period with goals by Josephs at 1:34 of the period and Jokiharju with one at 9:52.
Patrick Grasso got the ’Cats on the board at 13:51 of the first period with a power-play goal. The play started with Matias Cleland sliding a pass over to Tyler Kelleher at the top of the faceoff circle. He sent a pass to Grasso who skated in along the redline and jammed the puck past Clarkson netminder Jake Kielly.
Dylan Maller recorded the first goal of his career at 9:49 of the second period as he flung a wrister from the top of the slot past Kielly. Jason Salvaggio took a shot that was saved by Kielly, and Kelleher sent the puck out to Maller for the assists.
Clarkson regained the lead at 10:59 of the second stanza as Jokiharju notched his second goal of the game. The Wildcats remained resilient as Grasso scored his second goal of the game and third of the weekend at 16:10. Liam Blackburn recorded his first collegiate point on the play with an assist.
In the third period, Kelleher scored his first goal of the game, which would prove to be the game-winner, at with 1:39 left in regulation. Salvaggio got his second assist of the game on the play. With 32 seconds left, Kelleher put the game away with an empty-net goal from the UNH zone.
The Wildcats split their weekend trip through New York after losing to No. 15 St. Lawrence on Friday.