Video Highlights by Tanner Acebo, Norwich Sports Information

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's ice hockey team played arguably its best game of the season on Saturday night with a convincing 5-1 win over No. 11-ranked Amherst in the 2014 Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament Championship game at Kreitzberg Arena.

The Cadets got goals from five different players as Nevin Lawler (Fitchburg, Mass.), Paul Russell (Andover, Mass.), Ryan Whitell (Calgary, Alberta), William Pelletier (St. Jean Chrysotome, Quebec) and Shane Gorman (Trumbull, Conn.) all found the back of the net as Norwich (9-1-2, 6-0-1 ECAC East) rolled to its fourth straight victory.

Norwich struck first at the 12:58 mark of the first period with Lawler netting his first goal of the season after throwing a puck at the net from the half boards that Amherst goalie Dave Cunningham never saw and found its way past him without ever leaving the ice. Freshmen forwards Dmitry Ermakov (Columbia, Md.) and Austin Surowiec (Louisville, Ky.) picked up assists on the goal.

Amherst (7-3-0 5-1-0 NESCAC) leveled the score just 38 seconds into the second period when Aaron Deustch sprung Brendan Burke on a breakaway. Burke took care of the rest, wristing a shot top shelf to the left side of the net and past NU starting goalie Matic Marinsek (Ljubljana, Slovenia) to knot the game up at 1-1 on the power play.

Norwich responded less than a minute later though with Russell scoring his sixth of the season by banging home a rebound in the slot after Cunningham made an initial save on a shot by Tyler Piacentini (South Weymouth, Mass.).

Whitell increased the lead to 3-1 with a power play blast from the point that beat Cunningham low to the right side of the net off assists from Travis Janke (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) and Gorman at the 19:33 mark of the second period.

Norwich tacked on two more goals in the third period with Pelletier notching his fourth goal of the weekend with a shot that kissed off the inside of the post and into the back of the net on the power play. Whitell and Cody Smith (Hudson, Mass.) notched assists on the goal to put the Cadets up 4-1. Pelletier's breakout weekend earned him tournament Most Valuable Player honors.

Gorman capped the scoring at the 16:18 mark of the third period with a goal off assists from Chris Duszynski (Okotoks, Alberta) and Janke.

Marinsek made 18 saves to pick up the victory and improve to 8-1-2 on the year. He was named to the All-Tournament team along with Janke and Whitell from Norwich. Amherst's Burke and Topher Flanagan, along with Milwaukee School of Engineering's Michael Thompson rounded out the team.

Cunnginham took the loss for Amherst despite an impressive 34-save performance to drop to 5-3-0 on the year.

Norwich continues its tough schedule to start 2014 next Thursday when it travels to Fenway Park to take on ECAC East rival Babson at 7:30 p.m. NU will then face UMass-Boston the following night.

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