GORHAM, Maine – The Norwich men's ice hockey team swept its season-opening weekend in Maine with a 5-1 win over Southern Maine on Saturday afternoon at USM Ice Arena.

Bolstered by two goals from junior forward Pier-Olivier Cotnoir (Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec), including one just 30 seconds into the game, the Cadets remained perfect on the year and improved to 2-0-0 overall and in league play.

Sophomore Travis Janke (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) notched three assists and junior Kyle Thomas (Waltham, Mass.) added a goal and an assist to round out the Cadets' offensive leaders.

Thomas tallied the eventual game-winning goal on the power play off his back hand at the doorstep of the goal at the 10:50 mark of the first period to make it 2-0 Norwich.

Southern Maine's Dan Rautenberg briefly cut the lead back down to 2-1 with a 4-on-4 goal off assists from Jon Grandinetti and Ryan Seward at the 2:57 mark of the second period.

However, sophomore forward Chris Duszynski (Okotoks, Alberta) scored just 31 seconds later to give the Cadets a two-goal lead again and deflate any chance of the Huskies' gaining momentum to get back into the game.

Sophomore forward Shane Gorman (Trumbull, Conn.) and Cotnoir added power play goals later in the second to cap the scoring for the game and give the Cadets a 5-1 victory when the final buzzer sounded.

Norwich finished 3-for-11 on the power play while Southern Maine was 0-for-2. The Cadets also outshot the Huskies 41-17.

Norwich sophomore goalie Parker Carroll (West Chester, Pa.) picked up his second win of the season after turning aside 16 shots for the second straight night. Southern Maine's Braely Torris stopped 36 shots for the Huskies to drop to 1-3-0 on the year.

Norwich returns home next Friday as the Cadets host New England College on Friday night in their regular season home opener at Kreitzberg Arena at 7 p.m. NU follows up on Saturday with St. Anselm at 4 p.m.

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-CADETS-