PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Norwich University men's lacrosse team needed an extra period before scoring at the 1:39 mark in overtime to post an 8-7 win at Johnson & Wales University in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tilt on Friday afternoon.

Norwich opened up the scoring with back-to-back goals in the first ten minutes. Josh Jenkins (Centennial, Colo.) registered an unassisted tally just 1:48 into the game before Ian Kennedy (Gloucester, Mass.) connected on a man-up goal to give the Cadets a 2-0 lead. Wildcat senior Damian Bandareck (Topsfield, Mass.) cut into the deficit with an unassisted goal to end the first quarter.

Sophomore Kenny Phillips (Huntington, N.Y.) evened the score, 2-2, just under five minutes into the second with an unassisted goal. C.J. Dolan (East Sandwich, Mass.) gave Norwich the lead 3-2 under a minute later before the Wildcats used back-to-back man-up goals by sophomore Brian Hillenbrand (Portsmouth, R.I.) and freshman Max Stone (Burlington, Conn.) to take the 4-3 advantage at half. The Cadets held a 15-11 advantage in shots for the half.

NU took control in the third with four unanswered goals, including Jenkins' and Dolan's second of the game each, to hold a 7-5 lead after three quarters. The Wildcats connected on the only two goals of the fourth and final period to tie things up 7-7. Johnson & Wales' freshman Sam Sears (Baltimore, Md.) used an assist from Stone to cut the Norwich lead to one before Hillenbrand connected on his second of the day with 1:45 remaining to send the game to overtime.

After back and forth play in OT, Kennedy was led in front of the net and buried the shot to seal the win for the visiting Cadets.

Senior faceoff specialist Andrew Bracy (Carthage, N.Y.) won 14-of-18 faceoffs, while junior midfielder Matt Flaherty (Portland, Maine) collected a team-high five groundballs on the day. Sophomore Chris Gersh (Hudson, N.H.) collected six saves for NU in the victory, while freshman JC Guido (Miller Place, N.Y.) made 17 saves in the setback for the Wildcats.

With the win, the Cadets have improved to 3-1 on the season and 3-0 in GNAC play, while the Wildcats fall to 2-14 overall and 0-1 in conference play.

Norwich will return to action tomorrow when they travel to New London, Conn. for a 7 p.m. non-conference game against the U.S. Coast Guard Academy.

MAJOR PORTIONS COURTESY OF JOHNSON & WALES SPORTS INFORMATION