Video Highlights by Tanner Acebo, Norwich Sports Information

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Senior forward Chris Duszynski (Okotoks, Alberta) tallied his first career hat trick to lead the Norwich University men's hockey team to a wild 10-4 victory in its 2013-14 season opener against Plymouth State on Friday night at Kreitzberg Arena.

Freshman forward Paul Russell (Andover, Mass.) and junior forward Gerard McEleney (Canton, Mass.) each tallied two goals, while sophomore defenseman Ryan Whitell (Calgary, Alberta) tallied four assists to round out the Cadets' offensive leaders on the night.

Duszynski scored twice to help Norwich (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ECAC East) jump out to a 3-0 lead less than seven minutes into the game. He opened the scoring at the 4:03 mark when he redirected the puck past Plymouth State starting goalie Tyler Ingerson after Shane Gorman (Trumbull, Conn.) fed him from behind the net. Senior forward Travis Janke (Swift Current, Sask.) also picked up his first of three assists on the night as well.

Russell scored his first collegiate goal just 23 seconds later when he took a shot that just trickled over the line after Ingerson got a piece of it. Sophomore forward Dean Niezgoda (Brewster, Mass.) and Corey Hale (Montreal, Quebec) each picked up assists on the goal to make it 2-0 Norwich.

Duszynski netted his second of the night with a snipe from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat Ingerson blocker side just underneath the cross bar off assists from Gorman and Janke again.

Plymouth State (0-1-0, 0-0-0 MASCAC) regained its composure and stormed back with two quick goals of its own just 22 seconds apart to cut the lead to 3-2 just past the midway point of the first.

Zach Sarig got the Panthers on the board at the 9:49 mark of the first period when he blasted a shot from the point that found its way through traffic in front of the net to beat NU starting goalie Parker Carroll (West Chester, Pa.)

Chad Barthelmess kept the momentum rolling for Plymouth State when he tucked a backhand shot just underneath the cross bar to finish off a 2-on-1 break from a pass by Mike Freitag.

Norwich regained its two-goal lead late in the first when freshman forward Trevor Stewart (Mission, Texas) notched his first collegiate goal off a feed from fellow rookie William Pelletier (St. Jean Chrysotome, Quebec). Pelletier set the goal up all by himself with a hard fore-check behind Plymouth State's net. He rode a PSU defenseman off the puck with a check into the boards, collected the puck and fed Stewart all alone of the right post for the easy tap in goal to make it 4-2 Cadets after one.

Plymouth State got it back to a one goal game at the 8:12 mark of the second period when Dan Dupell scored on the power play off an assist from Sarig.

Norwich took control from there though as the Cadets poured in three unanswered goals to take a 7-3 lead after 40 minutes. Freshman forward Tyler Piacentini (South Weymouth, Mass.) scored his first goal by slamming home a rebound on his backhand in front of the net after Ingerson made an initial save on Thieda's shot from the blue line. Niezgoda also picked up an assist.

Hale made it 6-3 at the 17:36 mark with a blast from the point off assists from Whitell and Pelletier. Duszynski completely deflated Plymouth State with another snipe coming with 1.8 seconds left in the period off assists from Janke and Whitell.

Norwich made it 8-3 just 57 seconds into the third when Russell scored the goal of the night by speeding down the left wing to get around a Plymouth State defenseman before deking to the near post and then shoveling it in around the sprawled out Panther goalie on the backhand to the far post.

McEleney capped the scoring with his two goals on the night with Plymouth State's Tieg Alward sandwiching his goal in between.

Norwich outshot Plymouth State 47-26 on the night. Carroll made 12 saves to earn the victory, but all three NU goalies saw time. Marinsek played the final 9:09 of the second, making all seven saves, while Czarnota played the whole third period, saving three of four shots.

Ingerson was saddled with the loss for Plymouth State after making 26 saves on 34 shots before being pulled for Zac Enstrom early in the third period.

Norwich returns to action next Friday night when it travels to South Burlington, Vt. for its ECAC East league opener against St. Michael's. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Cairns Arena.

 -CADETS-