NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's ice hockey team stretched its winning streak to five straight games to open the 2015-16 season with a 3-1 win over New England College on Saturday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.

Norwich (5-0-0, 4-0-0 NEHC) got goals from junior Paul Russell (Andover, Mass.), as well as sophomores Alec Brandrup (Rochester, Minn.) and Kevin Salvucci (Plymouth, Mass.) to lead the offense.

Junior goalie Ty Reichenbach (Billings, Mont.) made 21 saves to improve to 2-0-0 on the year for the Cadets.

Norwich got on the board at the 11:14 mark of the first period with Kevin Salvucci slipping the puck through NEC goalie Brett Kilar's five-hole off a pass from Cody Smith (Hudson, Mass.) to give the Cadets a 1-0 lead.

The Cadets extended their lead to 2-0 less than a minute later with Brandrup rifling a shot from the blue line that found its way through traffic and beat Kilar for Brandrup's second goal of the season.

NEC (2-2-1, 2-1-1 NEHC) answered at the 18:57 mark of the first period with Kyle Manlow beating Reichenbach for a power play goal off an assist from Conor Crouse to cut the deficit in half.

Neither side scored in the second period. NU added an empty-netter with 31 seconds to go in the third period to seal the victory as Russell notched his third goal of the year off assists from David Robertston (Boissevain, Manitoba) and Tyler Piacentini (South Weymouth, Mass.).

Norwich outshot NEC 31-22 for the game, including an 11-5 edge in the third period. Kilar finished with 28 saves for NEC.

Norwich continues its six-game home stand by hosting Skidmore and Castleton next weekend on Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively.