The Norwich men's ice hockey team will take to its home ice for the first time in February, beginning its quest for a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) title with back-to-back games against Southern Maine.
Down the Stretch
To close out the regular season, the Cadets went 4-1-1, including a win over Skidmore and a hard-fought tie against Plattsburgh State. The Huskies also enter the postseason having won four of their last six games, including three straight wins heading into the final day of the regular season.
This season's meetings
The two teams met for the first time this season on January 5th at the Kreizberg Arena. Norwich ran off early in that contest, Jed Brazo (Homer, New York) They took the lead in the first minute and a half. Second half of the period, paul schmidt (Linz, Austria) They doubled the lead, but the Huskies fought back a few minutes later to cut Norwich's lead to one point. The score remained 2-1 for most of the game until John Hagan tied it late in the third inning and remained tied for the remainder of regulation and overtime.
Most recently, Norwich and USM battled to close out the regular season in Gorham. After the score was tied at 1 at the first intermission, the Cadets exploded with three goals in the second period. Brian O'Mara (Syracuse, New York) The Cadets scored two points en route to a 5-2 victory.
tape story
| norwich | statistics category | southern maine |
| 14-7-4 (11-4-3 NEHC) | record | 9-13-3 (6-9-3 NEHC) |
| 3.0 | Goals per game | 3.0 |
| 1.7 | Number of goals conceded per match | 3.7 |
| 28% | power play % | 21.8% |
| 90.2% | Penalty kill% | 75% |
| .937 | team save percentage | .900 |
norwich leaders
The Cadets’ scoring is spread throughout the lineup.personally the captain clark kerner (Kansas City, Kansas) He leads the team in goals, points and power play goals.Right behind him is a freshman defenseman. cooper bertrand (Caledon, Ontario) and O'Mara each had 17 points.
Southern Maine Leader
Leading the way for USM is senior Austin Marini, who has 24 points in 21 games this season. The second leading scorer was Curtis Judd with 19 points.
goaltending
All season, Norwich has used a tandem of first-year netminders between the pipes. Sami Mol (Toronto, Ontario) and Bryce Valcarius (Aylmer, ON). Both goaltenders have similar stat lines, with Mol having a 1.58 goals-against average and .944 save percentage, and Valkarius having a 1.46 goals-against average and .940 save percentage. Meanwhile, for the Huskies, Kyle Penton played in 16 games and played a goal role (3.47 goals against average, .907 save percentage).
The second meeting between these teams in back-to-back weeks will be the second half of an NEHC quarterfinal doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 17, at Kreizberg Arena, with puck drop set for 7 p.m.
