NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Junior forward Anthony Bird scored a natural hat trick to lead Skidmore to a 4-0 shutout victory over the Norwich University men's ice hockey team on Friday night at Kreitzberg Arena.

Skidmore junior goalie Jack McDonald also made 40 saves for the Thoroughbreds as they snapped Norwich's 20-game home winning streak and dealt the Cadets their first loss of the season as well.

Skidmore (1-5-0, 1-4-0 NEHC) took the lead at the 11:20 mark of the first period on a fluke play with Max Hegge banking a shot off NU sophomore goalie Braeden Ostepchuk (Lethbridge, Alberta) from the right corner to give the Thoroughbreds a lead they would look back from. Sam Hudziak picked up the assist on the goal.

Skidmore added to its lead at the 14:08 mark with Bird scoring his first of the night on a shorthanded goal after a misplayed puck at the NU blue line sprung him on a breakaway. Bird sped in from the left wing and slipped the puck through Ostepchuk's legs to make it 2-0 Thoroughbreds heading into the first intermission.

Skidmore increased its lead to 3-0 at the 14:07 mark of the second period with Bird notching his second of the night on a wrist shot from the middle of the right faceoff circle that found its way through traffic and past Ostepchuk.

Bird capped the scoring with a breakaway empty-net goal after NU pulled Ostepchuk for an extra skater. Bird chipped the puck off the wall and then sped past the NU defense before throwing the puck into a wide open net for his fourth goal of the season.

Norwich outshot Skidmore 40-19, but just could not solve McDonald.

Friday night's loss marked the first time Norwich has been shut out at home since the 2009 ECAC East Quarterfinals with a 1-0 overtime loss to UMass-Boston.

Norwich (5-1-0, 4-1-0 NEHC) will look to rebound on Saturday when it hosts intrastate rival Castleton at 4 p.m. at Kreitzberg Arena.