SCHENECTADY — It was a great homecoming for Clarkson women’s hockey defenseman and graduate student Sidney Fess.
The Clifton Park native capped a six-point weekend Saturday with a goal and two assists to help the Golden Knights, ranked sixth in the USCHO.com and USA Hockey polls, to a 4-0 ECAC Hockey victory over Union at Messa Rink.
Fess also had a goal and two assists in Clarkson’s 8-3 win over RPI on Friday at Houston Field House.
While she was excited to be back home, Fess was happier that the Golden Knights (9-3-0 ECACH, 25 points; 18-5-1 overall) bounced back from home-ice losses to Cornell (3-0) and Colgate (4-2) last weekend.
“I think it’s kind of a full-circle moment,” Fess said. “But I think kind of rebounding off last weekend, I think it was huge for our team to come in and get these two strong wins. More importantly than anything, that was the focus of this weekend.”
Clarkson graduate student defenseman and Clifton Park native Sydney Fess had a goal and two assists to help the Golden Knights women’s hockey team beat Union 4-0 on Saturday. Fess and Clarkson head coach Matt Desrosiers talk about the homecoming.
By Ken Schott
Fess played youth hockey for the Troy/Albany Titans, and fondly remembered playing games at Houston Field House and Frear Park. She attended Shenendehowa High School and graduated from the North American Hockey Academy in 2020.
Fess played in 111 games in four seasons at Boston College before transferring to Clarkson.
The Eagles never played games at RPI or Union, so this weekend was the first time she got to play collegiate games in the Capital Region.
“This was nice to have a bunch of friends and family come from all over,” Fess said. “… It was nice coming back and seeing everything.”
Fess chose Clarkson because she said she wanted something different.
“I wanted to come to a winning culture, and I’ve just heard so many great things about Clarkson and seeing what they’ve done year to year,” Fess said. “It was something that I always wanted to be a part of. It couldn’t get any better than coming in this program. The girls are awesome. It’s been pretty easy to fit in.”
Clarkson coach Matt Desrosiers is happy to have Fess.
“With the transfer portal, just seeing her name in the portal and then just calling her up and having a conversation and telling her the type of impact that we felt that she could have on our team,” Desrosiers said. “And obviously we saw that on display tonight and this weekend.”
Fess gave Clarkson a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal with 7:52 left in the first period. Her left-point shot deflected off of a Union player in front and sailed past goalie Monja Wagner. Fess had assists on a pair of Caroline Goffredo goals.
The Union women’s hockey team dropped a 4-0 ECAC Hockey decision to Clarkson on Saturday at Messa Rink. Head coach Tony Maci and forward Maddie Leany talk about the game.
By Ken Schott
Union head coach Tony Maci was still the Golden Knights’ associate head coach when Fess transferred to Clarkson. He was impressed.
“She plays well, she plays hard,” Maci said. “There’s a reason why we wanted to bring her in there, and she filled the hole that we lost the year before. It seems like her game’s coming along, and her defensive game has gotten a lot better.”
As for Union (5-8-0, 15 points; 8-15-1), it managed just one shot on goal in the first period. The Garnet Chargers finished with 14 shots on goal in their fourth straight loss.
“We weren’t playing well enough to get pucks into their end to have offense,” Maci said. “We tried to talk about that in between periods and get away from just sitting back too much and not connecting on passes type of thing that would allow us to get into their end. I thought the second period, we did a little bit better job with that.”
Clarkson 2 0 2 — 4
Union 0 0 0 — 0
First Period — 1, Clarkson, Fess 5 (Hurry, Goffredo), 12:08 (pp). 2, Clarkson, Goffredo 7 (Chantler, Fess), 12:25. Penalties — Mancy, Uni (roughing), 10:08; Willis, Uni (hooking), 13:03.
Second Period — None. Penalties — Dunkle, Uni (hooking), :26; Spademan, Cla (high-sticking), 6:53; Hicks, Cla (slashing), 16:00.
Third Period — 3, Clarkson, Goffredo 8 (Fess, Chantler), 13:48 (pp). 4, Clarkson, Catterall 11 (Cherkowski, Winn), 15:50. Penalties — Catterall, Cla (holding), 2:56; Smellie, Cla (cross-checking), 9:05; Willis, Uni (body checking), 11:54; Mancy, Uni, major-game misconduct (kneeing), 16:55.
Shots on Goal — Clarkson 17-7-11 — 35. Union 1-7-6 — 14.
Power-play opportunities — Clarkson 2 of 5; Union 0 of 4.
Goalies — Clarkson, Doucette 2-0-0 (14 shots-14 saves). Union, Wagner 1-3-1 (35-31).
A — NA. T — 2:09.
Referees — Samantha Hillier, Michael St. Lawrence. Linesmen — Bree Kraut, Stephanie Sersch.
Related News :