SALEM, Mass. - Rick Cleaver scored two goals
and added an assist, and Raphael Robitaille tallied one goal and
one assist to lead the Norwich men's hockey team past Salem State,
6-2, on Saturday afternoon. The Cadets (1-1) bounced back nicely
from their season-opening 8-3 setback at Southern Maine on Friday
with a dominating performance.
Salem State (1-1) actually scored the first goal of the contest
at the 10:19 mark of the first period. Less than two minutes after
falling behind, Cleaver scored the first of his two goals to spark
the Cadets. Norwich went on to score four unanswered goals and
cruised to the win.
The score was tied 1-1 after the first period, but D.J. Fimiani
tallied his first goal of the season just 58 seconds into the
second period to put Norwich on top, 2-1. Then, with just over one
minute to play in the second stanza, Sylvain Messier scored a power
play goal to give the Cadets a 3-1 edge heading into the final
period.
Robitaille potted a power play goal early in the third to extend
NU's lead to 4-1. Then, after Salem State pulled to within 4-2 at
the 8:18 mark, Norwich put the game away with goals from Cleaver
and Rico Piatelli rounding out the scoring.
David Thompson earned the victory in goal for Norwich. The
sophomore turned away 20 of the 22 shots that he faced.
NU was 3-for-9 on the power play tonight, after going just
1-for-6 versus Southern Maine on Friday. The Cadets outshot Salem
State, 40-22.
The Cadets return to the ice on Friday, Nov. 23, when they take
on Middlebury at the Primelink Shootout in Plattsburgh, N.Y.
Faceoff is set for 4 p.m. NU will face either Plattsburgh State or
St. John (Minn.) on Saturday at either 4 or 7 p.m.
