Norwich and Plattsburgh State went into the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout ranked second and third in the country, respectively, with nearly identical unbeaten records.
But the Cadets separated themselves Friday.
Norwich scored three goals during a nine-minute span in the second period and beat Plattsburgh 5-1 in nonconference men’s hockey at Middlebury’s Chip Kenyon Arena. The Cardinals will meet Middlebury in today’s third-place game, while Norwich and Concordia will play for the championship.
Plattsburgh goaltender Brady Rouleau kept the Cadets (7-0) off the board in the first period despite being peppered with 14 shots, but he couldn’t hold them off in the second. Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said the Cardinals’ 3-0 deficit could be attributed to sloppy defensive play.
“I think we gave them those three goals in the second period on a silver platter,” Emery said.
“I thought we made some real crucial errors — a turnover, two guys getting caught up ice giving up two-on-ones. You’re not going to win a lot of games giving up two-on-ones. They were opportunistic on those two-on-ones they had, and I don’t think we had one two-on-one all night.”
Austin Surowiec tilted momentum Norwich’s way 5:44 into the second when he skated into the left circle and fired a laser past Rouleau. William Pelletier came in on the rush and buried a low shot at 11:41 for a 2-0 cushion.
Less than three minutes later, the Cadets capitalized on one of those two-on-one opportunities, with Justin Charbonneau taking a pass from Payton Baldillez and one-timing it into the left side of the net
Norwich held a 25-11 advantage in shots on goal after two periods.
In the third, Brendan Boyce sped in on a breakaway, got hooked and still managed to squeeze the puck past Rouleau. The official’s arm went up before the shot went in the net, and on the ensuing power play, Surowiec banged in the puck from the right side to make it 5-0.
The Cadets are averaging 5.14 goals per game, which ranks fifth in Division III, and coach Mike McShane said that has been a pleasant surprise.
“We didn’t think we were going to be a big offensive team this year, and we’re counting on our defense because we’ve got a lot of experience back there and good goaltending,” McShane said. “But anytime you can have a couple of transition goals like we had (Friday) it builds momentum and really helps build the confidence in the team.”
Rouleau, who finished with 24 saves, was replaced by freshman Ryan Hubbard after the fifth goal. Making his first appearance for the Cardinals, Hubbard stopped five shots.
Anthony Calabrese tallied for Plattsburgh (7-1) at 12:07.
Braeden Ostepchuk earned the win by making 22 saves.
The Cardinals started slowly, and while the game was scoreless after the first, Emery said they were outplayed in the period.
“I thought Norwich took it to us,” he said.
The ice surface at Kenyon measures 200 feet by 95 feet, considerably larger than Stafford Ice Arena’s 185 by 85 dimensions, and Emery cited that as a factor, noting that the Cadets are accustomed to big ice.
“It’s a lot harder to go from a small rink to a big rink. It’s really hard,” Emery said. “It’s much easier to go from a big rink to a small rink. And we saw that. Took us a long time to get going here (Friday).
“But that’s not an excuse (for) the way we played. I think Norwich wanted it a little bit more than us (Friday). They battled a little bit more on 50/50 pucks, and when you do that you’re bound to get your breaks.”
Concordia (5-3-1) raced out to a 3-0 lead in Friday’s second game only to see Middlebury (1-2-2) answer with three straight goals. Then Tucker Coborn gave the Cobbers a 4-3 lead at 11:38 of the second period, and that held up the rest of the way.
Jon Grebosky scored two goals for Concordia, and Alex Reichle made 36 saves.
Concordia is the first western team to reach the PrimeLink Shootout final.
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Norwich 5, Plattsburgh 1
Norwich 0 3 2 — 5
Plattsburgh 0 0 1 — 1
First period- Penalties: Nor, Niezgoda (boarding), 7:08. PSU, Constantine (slashing), 14:26. PSU, Beadow (cross-checking), 14:50. PSU, Calabrese (interference), 19:00.
Second period- 1, Nor, Surowiec (Charbonneau), 5:44. 2, Nor, Pelletier (Thieda, Currier), 11:41. 3, Nor, Charbonneau (Baldillez, Currier), 14:24. Penalties: PSU, Kaye (hooking), 6:14. Nor, Pelletier (delaying the game), 9:20. Nor, Flaherty (hooking), 19:33.
Third period- 4, Nor, Boyce (Niezgoda), 3:38. 5, Nor, Surowiec (Currier, McEleney), 4:18 (pp). 6, PSU, Calabrese (Toomey), 12:07. Penalties: PSU, Hermans (hooking), 3:38. Nor, Boyce (roughing), 12:40. PSU, Beadow (high-sticking), 13:51.
Shots on goal:
Norwich 14 11 9 — 34
Plattsburgh 6 5 12 — 23
Goaltenders (shots-saves): Ostepchuk, Nor, 23-22. Rouleau, PSU, 29-24. Hubbard, PSU, 5-5.
Power play (goals-opportunities): Norwich 1-6, Plattsburgh 0-4.
Attendance: 792.
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Concordia 4, Middlebury 3
Concordia 2 2 0 — 4
Middlebury 0 3 0 — 3
First period- 1, Con, Bancroft (Deters), 1:16. 2, Con, Grebosky (Aus), 17:15. Penalties: Con, Doerring (tripping), 3:56. Belluche (tripping), 9:58.
Second period- 3, Con, Grebosky (Doerring, Bancroft), 0:53. 4, Mid, Pimentel (Greenwald, Fishman), 2:10 (pp). 5, Mid, McGovern (Conrad, Falvey), 9:16. 6, Mid, McLellan (Fishman, McGovern), 10:11. 7, Con, T. Coborn (McWilliams), 11:38. Penalties: Con, Krebsbach (hooking), 1:37. Con, Grebosky (hooking), 5:55. Con, Hendrickson (hitting after whistle), 10:49. Mid, Charles (hitting after whistle), 10:49. Mid, Ordway (tripping), 13:00. Mid, Greenwald (hooking), 15:51. Mid, Greenwald (tripping), 19:52.
Third period- Penalties: Con, McWilliams (tripping), 5:52. Mid, Ordway (high-sticking), 7:29. Con, Aus (cross-checking), 17:13. Mid, Pimentel (cross-checking), 17:13. Con, Deters (hooking), 19:54.
Shots on goal:
Concordia 12 6 11 — 29
Middlebury 8 15 16 — 39
Goaltenders: Reichle, Con, 39-36. Moorfield-Yee, Mid, 29-25.
Power plays: Concordia 0-5, Middlebury 1-6.
Attendance: 1,016.
Email Courtney Lewis:clewis@pressrepublican.comTwitter: @sportsCourt
