Box Score

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Freshman F Pier-Oliver Cotnoir scored the game-winning goal off a pretty feed from sophomore F Emmond Bell just 2 minutes, 12 seconds into the overtime period to give the Cadets (24-1-4) the victory and ensure that the nation's top-ranked team will continue playing. The goal, which was a pretty shot that beat Tuttle to the short side from the right-hand faceoff circle, was Cotnoir's 11th of the season.

Elmira (19-9-1) opened the scoring at the 7:21 mark of the first period when Kevin Willer scored a power play goal. The marker, which was Willer's 15th of the season, was assisted by Greg Moore.

It looked like the early goal would stand up until Norwich freshman F Steven Schroeder scored the game-tying goal in the final minute of regulation.

Norwich enjoyed an 8-3 edge in shots during the opening period, but the Cadets were unable to get anything past Elmira goaltender Casey Tuttle, who made a couple of big saves and was also helped out when an NU attempt clanged off the left post.

The Cadets drastically outplayed the Soaring Eagles in the middle stanza, outshooting the visitors 15-3 in the second period. Tuttle continued his mastery in the Elmira cage, however, turning aside all 15 shots that he saw. Norwich enjoyed a plethora of outstanding scoring chances, even hitting another post, but the Cadets could not get anything behind Tuttle.

Norwich outshot Elmira 15-6 in the third period and the Cadets' pressure finally paid off when Schroeder scored with 48 seconds to play to knot the score at 1-1. With Norwich senior G Ryan Klingensmith on the bench in favor of the extra attacker, junior D Greg Eskedjian fired a shot at the net from the blue line. The initial shot was stopped, but Schroeder was able to swoop in and chip the rebound past Tuttle to knot the score at 1-1 and send the Kreitzberg Arena crowd of 1,721 into a frenzy. Eskedjian and freshman F Scott Schroeder picked up assists on the goal, which was Steven Schroeder's ninth of the season.

Prior to Steven Schroeder's goal, Klingensmith made the biggest save of the night for NU when the net minder stoned Elmira's leading scorer Darcy Vaillancourt on a two-on-none breakaway. Vaillancourt skated in all alone on Klingensmith and attempted to go to the backhand, but the Cadets' goalie slid over and cut off any angle at the cage.

That save, which came with about two minutes to play in regulation, kept Norwich in the game and set the stage for Steven Schroeder's heroics.

Norwich finished the game with a 39-13 edge in shots, but Tuttle (14-7-1) kept Elmira in the game throughout with 37 saves in the Soaring Eagles' cage. Klingensmith (22-1-3) finished with 12 saves for the Cadets.

EC went 1-for-5 on the power play, while NU was 0-for-5 on the man-advantage.

Norwich will face Plattsburgh State University in the national semifinals on Friday, March 19. The fifth-ranked Cardinals upset No. 4 ranked Middlebury College, 3-2, in overtime to reach Lake Placid for the second time in three years. Norwich and Plattsburgh played twice during the regular season with Norwich taking the PrimeLink Shootout championship game in a 10-round shootout in November, before securing a 4-1 victory in January. Both of the previous meetings were contested at Kreitzberg Arena.