Courtesy Norwich and St. Michael’s Sports Informations
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NORTHFIELD –– The No. 2-ranked Norwich University men’s ice hockey team scored three power play goals to defeat Skidmore College 3-2 on Friday night at Kreitzberg Arena in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action.
Norwich (15-2-2, 10-1-1 NEHC) extended its unbeaten streak to nine straight games with the hard-fought victory and clinched the season sweep over the Thoroughbreds.
Junior forward Coby Downs (Montclair, Calif.) scored a goal and had two assists, while sophomore defenseman Gabriel Chicoine (St. Dominique, Quebec) tallied three assists to lead the offense. Senior goalie Tom Aubrun (Chamonix, France) made 26 saves to improve to 14-2-2 on the season in goal.
Norwich opened the game 3-for-3 on the power play with Philip Elgstam (Stockholm, Sweden), Felix Brassard (St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec) and Downs all scoring with the man advantage.
Skidmore took a 1-0 lead at the 4:12 mark of the first period with Nicholas Charron banking a puck off a Norwich defender and into the back of the net off assists from Matthew Rutigliano and Misha Mrotchek.
The Cadets answered just under five minutes later with Elgstam jamming home his own rebound on the right side of the crease to tie the game up at 1-1. Downs and Chicoine picked up the assists on the goal.
Norwich opened the second period scoring with Brassard firing a wrist shot top shelf and into the corner of the net from the top of the left faceoff circle off assists from Downs and Chicoine at the 4:43 mark.
Skidmore answered again with Rutigliano scoring with a shot tucked just under the cross bar off assists from Matt Muzyka and Austin Rook.
Downs capped the scoring with the game-winning goal at the 10:21 mark of the second period after he slid a puck into a wide open net from the right half boards after a terrific setup with Brassard at the opposite circle. Chicoine picked up his third secondary assist of the night.
Norwich outshot Skidmore 31-28. Brandon Kassel made 28 saves for Skidmore in goal to fall to 8-5-4.
Norwich faces No. 6-ranked Hobart College at 4 p.m. on its annual Gold Out Night in rematch of the last two NEHC Championship games on Saturday at Kreitzberg Arena.
SHELTON, CT. — The Saint Michael’s College men’s ice hockey team scored twice in the third period to beat Post University, 2-1, on Friday at the Sports Center of Connecticut in Northeast-10 Conference play. With the win, the Purple Knight move into a tie for first place in the NE10 with Saint Anselm College.
RECORDS
· Saint Michael’s (10-7-2, 6-4-1 NE10), Post (2-13-1, 0-10 NE10)
SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS
· Junior Noah Muller (Amsterdam, The Netherlands/Düsseldorfer EG), 1 goal, 2 blocks
· Junior Sel Narby (Huntington, N.Y./Connecticut Junior Rangers), 1 goal
· Junior Niall Foster (Newmarket, N.H./Walpole Express), 1 assist
· Junior Cameron Stewart (Sabattus, Maine/East Coast Wizards), 1 assist
· Junior Zach Sullivan (Weymouth, Mass./Walpole Express), 1 assist
· Senior Tim Decker (Liverpool, N.Y./Canterbury School), 38 saves
OPPONENT LEADERS
· Senior Tyler Hackett, 1 goal
· Senior Matt Moreschi, 1 assist
· Junior Brandon Brown, 37 saves
GAME FACTS
· With the win, the Purple Knights move into a tie with Saint Anselm College for first in the Northeast-10 Conference, one point up on Assumption College.
· The Purple and Gold held the Eagles scoreless on 13 power plays after the unit came into the game scoring on 25.5 percent of its power-play chances.
· Muller has scored four goals against the Eagles this year after netting a hat trick in the first matchup, a 6-3 Purple Knight victory on Jan. 7.
· Decker moved into a tie with Derek Jackson ’07 for sixth in program history in career wins (22). Decker also overtook Mark Crowley ’91 (1,200) for 10th in school annals in career saves (1,207).
· The Purple Knights now hold the 5-3 advantage in the all-time series against the Eagles.
THE ACTION
· On a Post power play, Decker made four saves in a 30-second span from 11:51 to 12:16 in the first period to keep the Eagles off the board.
· A shot by senior William Santangeli (Oakville, Ontario/Saint Mark’s School) in the slot with 16:23 gone was headed to the top right corner, but Brown used his blocker to hit the puck wide.
· In the final seven seconds of the first period on a Post power play, senior Hadan Jordan (Colorado Springs, Colo./Boston Bandits) and junior Ethan Hendrickson (Budd Lake, N.J./New Jersey Rockets) both blocked shots before a shot by junior Evan Lugo was saved by Decker to end the period.
· On a Purple Knight 5-on-3 opportunity 6:03 into the second period, a shot by junior Paul McAuliffe (Newton, Mass./Kimball Union Academy) went past Brown but hit the right post and went wide.
· With seven seconds remaining, Hackett won a faceoff in his own zone and brought it all the way to Purple Knight net, where Decker poked the puck away before a shot could be attempted.
· Saint Michael’s took the lead with 2:59 gone in the third period on a power play when Stewart passed the puck to the blue line for Muller, whose shot hit the back boards but rebounded off of Brown’s right leg into the back of the net.
· Post tied the game at 9:11 after Moreschi intercepted a pass in neutral ice and pushed the puck forward to Hackett for the breakaway, with Hackett beating Decker with a backhanded shot.
· The Purple Knights scored a second power-play goal with 11:56 gone, when Sullivan passed the puck to the top of the left circle for Narby, who picked the top right corner of the net.
· Saint Michael’s killed 3:57 of Eagle power plays starting at 12:26 that included 2:49 of 5-on-3 where Decker made seven saves.
· Post pulled Brown with 1:15 remaining for a final man advantage but was unable to get any shots on net.
NEXT SAINT MICHAEL’S GAME
· Saturday at Post, 4 p.m.