Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Freshman forward Austin Surowiec (Louisville, Ky.) and junior defenseman Bryce Currier (Essex Junction, Vt.) had combined for one goal on the season entering Saturday night's ECAC East Tournament Quarterfinal against Skidmore College.
The duo each scored a pair of goals each to lead Norwich to a 6-0 win over the Thoroughbreds at Kreitzberg Arena as the Cadets (18-5-3) advanced to the ECAC East Semifinals and continued their search for the program's 11th ECAC East Tournament title.
Senior forward Travis Janke (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) and freshman forward Paul Russell (Andover, Mass.) also added goals as the Cadets won their fourth straight game.
Surowiec opened the scoring at the 16:38 mark of the first period with a tremendous effort, sliding the puck into an open net on his backhand while laying on the ice to put Norwich up 1-0. Freshman forward William Pelletier (St. Jean Chrysotome, Quebec) and sophomore defenseman Ryan Whitell (Calgary Alberta) notched assists on the goal.
Norwich scored three goals in the second period to pull away for good from the shorthanded Thoroughbreds, who were missing three skaters due to injury from the standard 18-man lineup.
Janke made it 2-0 at the 1:24 mark of the second period with a beauty of a tip in off a perfectly threaded pass from senior forward Shane Gorman (Trumbull, Conn.) at the half boards. Junior defenseman Alec Thieda (Rochester Hills, Mich.) notched the secondary assist on Janke's 13th goal of the year.
Russell pushed the lead to 3-0 at the 12:38 mark of the second period when he beat Skidmore starting goalie Jack McDonald up high after Whitell's shot was partially blocked by a Skidmore player. Erik Lyrvall (Falun, Sweden) picked the up the second assist after feeding Whitell with a d to d pass along the blue line.
Surowiec capped the second period scoring beating McDonald short side from the left wing after Pelletier stripped a Skidmore player of the puck in the neutral zone and head-manned the puck up to Surowiec at the blue line.
Currier added a pair of third-period goals, beating McDonald and Ben Frieberg over the glove each time at 3:18 and 6:54 of the final stanza. Corey Hale picked up the assist on Currier's first goal and then Surowiec and Pelletier each notched assists on his second goal.
Norwich senior goalie Chris Czarnota (Wakefield, Mass.) stopped all nine shots he faced to pick up his eighth victory of the season in 49:35 of work. Parker Carroll (West Chester, Pa.) came on for the final 10:18, turning aside all five shots he faced to preserve the team shutout, which was Norwich's seventh shutout of the year.
McDonald made 32 saves in the loss, while Freiberg made eight saves in relief.
Norwich will face Castleton on Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m. in the ECAC East Semifinals.
-CADETS-
