WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. - Williams scored twice in the opening two minutes of the first period, and the Ephs rode that momentum to a 5-3 victory over No. 4 Norwich in an ECAC East-NESCAC interlock men's ice hockey game Friday evening.

Williams (7-9-3 5-6-3 NESCAC) got goals from Matt Masucci and Octavian Jordan in the first 1:43 of play, and the Ephs' goaltender Marc Pulde stopped 41 of the 44 shots that he faced to make the early lead stand up.

Norwich (16-4-0, 12-2-0 ECAC East) pulled to within one goal later in the first period when Rick Cleaver scored his team-leading 21st goal of the season at the 13:43 mark off an assist from D.J. Fimiani.

NU outshot Williams, 7-5, in the opening 20 minutes, but the Ephs carried their 2-1 lead into the second period.

Williams increased its lead to 3-1 with a short-handed goal at the 14:50 mark of the second. Less than two minutes later, NU crept back to within one goal again when C.J. Viso netted his third goal of the year at the 16:27 mark. Any momentum that the Cadets might have garnered with Viso's tally was taken away less than two minutes later when the Ephs scored at the 17:52 mark to take a 4-2 lead.

Norwich outshot Williams, 20-8, in the second stanza, but Williams outscored the Cadets, 2-1, in the frame and took a 4-2 lead into the final 20 minutes.

Williams added an insurance tally midway through the third period, and NU's Nikita Kashirsky closed out the scoring with his 15th goal of the year at the 14:09 mark.  

The Cadets outshot the Ephs, 19-8, in the third period and 44-23 for the game.

Ryan Klingensmith suffered his first loss of the season between the pipes for the Cadets. The sophomore, who falls to 6-1-0 on the year, made 18 saves on the night.

Norwich returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 9, when the Cadets travel to Middlebury, Vt., to take on in-state rival Middlebury at 4 p.m. The game can be heard on the radio (WDEV: AM-550, FM-96.1), and on the internet (http://www.cadetsradio.com).