NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich men's hockey team didn't lose a step in its first game since winning the 2010 NCAA Division III championship last March in Lake Placid, N.Y.

The top-ranked Cadets (1-0-0, 1-0-0 ECAC East) dominated the University of New England from start to finish and skated away with a convincing 8-0 win in their season opener at Kreitzberg Arena on Friday night.

Sophomore F Scott Schroeder and freshman F Travis Janke led the offense with two goals apiece, while Schroeder picked up an assist as well for a team-high three points on the night.

Junior F Tim Houston opened the scoring at the 11:09 mark of the first period when he poked home a loose rebound after UNE goaltender Mike Roper couldn't handle Colin Mulvey's initial shot.

Schroeder added his first tally 3:22 seconds later off an assist from sophomore F Pier-Olivier Cotnoir to give the Cadets a 2-0 lead heading into the first intermission.

Schroeder picked up his second goal at the 9:56 mark of the second period after Igor Martinez sprung him with a tape-to-tape pass that allowed Martinez to skate in from the wing and beat Roper high and to the glove side to make it 3-0.

Norwich put the game away after UNE (0-1-0, 0-1-0 ECAC East) took two roughing penalties 1:10 apart, giving the Cadets a 5-on-3 power play.

Norwich made the Nor'Easters pay as freshman D Frank Gatien picked up his first career goal in the maroon and gold sneaking in back door to one-time a pass from Cotnoir into the back of the net and past a sprawled-out Roper.

Junior D Pasha Kozhokin scored his first career goal 56 seconds later with one second remaining on the second penalty to increase the lead to 5-0 and cap the scoring for the second period.

In the third period, Janke scored back-to-back goals separated by just 2:09 to stretch the lead to 7-0.

Freshman F Chris Duszynski capped the scoring at the 15:40 mark, beating Roper five-hole off a pass from Martinez to give Norwich an 8-0 lead.

Norwich outshot UNE 55-9. Sophomore G Alex Dubois set aside all nine shots he faced, including a stellar save on UNE's Matt Del Giuduce from point-blank range with 3:07 to go in the game to preserve his second career shutout.

Roper made 47 saves, including some stellar glove saves that helped keep Norwich from reaching double-digit goals.

Norwich had 12 different skaters get on the score sheet, with four of the goals coming from freshmen.

UNE took nine penalties for 18 minutes, while Norwich had one penalty for two minutes.

The Cadets were 3-for-9 on the power play and the Nor'Easters were 0-for-1.

Before the game, Norwich raised the 2010 NCAA championship banner, which was the third national title in program history with the other two coming in 2000 and 2003.

Norwich hosts Southern Maine at 4 p.m. on Saturday in another ECAC East tilt. The Huskies fell 6-2 to St. Michael's on Friday.

Photo courtesy of Jennifer Langille