NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Norwich University scored a pair of power play goals in the middle frame, enroute to a 2-1 victory over UMass Dartmouth in Little East Conference action on Friday at Hetland Arena. The Cadets improve to 4-2-0 with a 4-1-0 mark in conference play, while the Corsairs slip to 3-4-0 and 1-2-0 in the LEC.
It was a wild first period of action that saw senior goalie
Graham Burke record 13 saves for the Corsairs while the UMD defense recorded 18 blocked shots during the frame. The home team carried that momentum into the second period and capitalized first at 4:04 on the power play.
Senior left wing
Vincent Nicosia skated into the neutral zone, tapping a quick pass over to winger
Tyler Stewart as he skated it into the Norwich zone. Stewart fired a shot from the low left circle and the puck caromed out to rookie right wing
Ryan Patrick, who continued to poke at the loose puck that slipped in five-hole on Cadets goalie Bryce Walcarius.
Despite the momentum, the Corsairs were unable to hold off the visitors, who finally got onto the scoreboard at 14:24 of the frame – taking advantage on the power play as well. Chipping the puck out from down low, junior winger Colin Elliott sent the puck to classmate Boyd Stahlbaum in the right circle. He directed the puck up to the top of the slot as rookie defender Ocean Fancy fired it in through a hole in the defense past Burke.
The Cadets made it a 2-1 lead at 18:51 of the period, once again off the stick of Fancy. Stahlbuam notched his second helper of the game on a nice pass, while junior captain Cooper Bertrand earned the secondary assist.
UMass Dartmouth came out strong in the third period, working to knot the game up as Walcarius was forced to make a pair of saves in the opening 1:30 of the stanza. The Corsairs had another strong effort midway through the period as a shot off the stick of rookie winger
Chris Cardillo went just wide, while another attempt soon after from rookie center
Liam Fecteau was stopped by the Cadets goalie.
Looking to score the equalizer, the Corsairs pulled Burke at 18:23 as Fancy was called for the a 5-minute major, which was quickly added to as Norwich saw another player head to the box on a tripping call. UMD fired in a number of shots, including back-to-back from sophomore defender
Hunter Scanlon and Stewart, but the visitors held on for the victory.
Walcarius posted 16 saves in the win for Norwich, while Burke recorded 34 saves on the night including 13 in the first and 12 in the second. The Corsairs defense in front of him was outstanding, blocking 44 shots in the contest, including 18 in the first, 11 in the second and 15 in the third.
Senior captain and defender
Lane Ruffner paced the way, blocking eight shots on the night, while senior defender
Hank McDonough and sophomore blueliners
Tristan Boyer and
Noah Webster all recorded five blocked shots. Junior center
Nolan Wutzke went 13-27 in the faceoff circle to lead the Corsairs.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the ice at Hetland on Saturday, welcoming Vermont State University Castleton for their first-ever meeting. Puck drop is set for 4:30pm.
