NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Powered by goals in each period – including three in the second – Norwich University posted a Little East Conference victory over UMass Dartmouth on Saturday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena. The Cadets move to 12-5-3 overall and 9-2-2 in conference play, while the Corsairs are now 10-9-0 and 5-7-0 in the LEC.
Norwich jumped out to the lead just 10 seconds into the opening period as a 2-on-1 advantage off a face-off win saw junior forward Zach Ophoven collect a feed from classmate Ben van Waterschoot for the tally past Corsairs goalie
Marshall McKallip.
The Cadets added to the lead at 1:54 on the power play as junior defender Cooper Bertrand found the loose puck in traffic following a McKallip save, burying it into the open left side as the UMD netminder was drawn out to the right.
Following three straight goals to open the second period for Norwich, the Corsairs finally got on the board on a fantastic individual effort from senior assistant captain and left wing
Tyler Stewart. Collecting a pass from junior right wing
Alex Walker, Stewart skated through the slot with impressive stick-handling, sending a backhanded shot past the reach of junior Sami Molu at 13:28.
The Corsairs cut the deficit to 5-2 three minutes later as sophomore defender
Hunter Scanlon caught a pass from Walker at the goal line, skating to the top of the left circle before unleashing a wrist shot. Stewart earned the secondary assist following a great feed to Walker from his spot at the far boards.
Norwich added a final tally late in the third period to seal the 6-2 victory as Molu picked up the win with 14 saves.
For the Corsairs, junior assistant captain and center
Nolan Wutzke was an impressive 11-4 from the face-off circle, while rookie center
Kailin Chen won 10 match-ups in the circle. The Corsairs blocked 20 Cadets' shots in the game, including a game-high four each from senior captain and defender
Lane Ruffner and junior defender
Roscoe Eade.
In goal, McKallip shouldered the loss, recording 15 saves in the opening 26:28 of play. Senior
Graham Burke came on in relief for the final 32:59, making 21 saves.
UMass Dartmouth returns to the ice next weekend at Hetland Arena, hosting New England College (Friday; 5:30pm) and Plymouth State College (Saturday; 3:40pm) in Little East action. Friday's game against the Pilgrims will be the Corsairs Game of the Week!
