Box
Score
NORTHFIELD, Vt. - The Norwich University men's
ice hockey team opened its 2008-09 campaign in style Friday
evening, defeating ECAC East rival Southern Maine, 4-2, at
Kreitzberg Arena.
Norwich (1-0-0, 1-0-0 ECAC East) got on the scoreboard first as
Eric Tallent scored a power play goal just 2:16 into the contest.
Nikita Kashirsky earned an assist on the play, which put the Cadets
on top 1-0.
Southern Maine (0-1-0, 0-1-0 ECAC East) responded with a power
play goal of its own just 55 seconds later as Dan Rautenberg scored
off assists from Ben Loss and Jon Rutt. The Huskies went ahead at
6:51 of the first period when Dan Gordon got behind the Norwich
defense, took a pass at the blueline and beat NU goaltender Ryan
Klingensmith to put USM in front 2-1. Rautenberg and Rutt were
credited with assists on the goal.
Norwich tied the game less than two minutes into the second
period as Nick DelGallo took a pass from Billy Kasper and beat
Southern Maine goaltender Jamie Gilbert to make it 2-2 at
the 1:39 mark. The Cadets then recaptured the lead late in the
middle stanza when Chad Anderson scored a power play goal off
assists from Steve Coon and Craig Serino at the 17:13 mark.
Neither team was able to score in the third period until
Kashirsky added an empty net goal at the 19:43 mark. D.J. Fimiani
and Rico Piatelli picked up assists on the empty-netter, which iced
the victory and sent the 1,607 fans home happy.
The Cadets outshot the Huskies 16-3 in the third period, and
they held a 27-16 edge in shots for the game. NU went 3-for-6 on
the power play, while USM was 1-for-5 on the man advantage.
Klingensmith stopped 14 of the 16 shots he faced en route to the
victory. Gilbert made 23 saves in the loss.
Prior to the game, Norwich raised its 2008 ECAC East regular
season and tournament champions banner during a special pre-game
ceremony.
The Cadets close their first weekend of league play on Saturday,
Nov. 22, when the Cadets host Salem State at Kreitzberg Arena for a
4 p.m. contest. The game can be heard live on the radio at WDEV
(550 AM; 96.1 FM) and on the internet at cadetsradio.com. Live
videostream coverage provided by CadetsVision will be available as
well.
