Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Junior forward Trevor Fleurent scored with 44 seconds left in overtime to lift the Univ. of New England men's ice hockey team to its first-ever win over Norwich on Friday night at Kreitzberg Arena in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action.
Fleurent took a wrist shot from just inside the blue line on the right wing that beat NU sophomore goalie Braeden Ostepchuk between the arm and his body and banked off the inside of the left post to send the Nor'Easter bench pouring onto the ice in celebration.
Fleurent led UNE (9-4-1, 5-4-1 NEHC) with a three-point night, while his brother Brady Fleurent tallied a goal and Dylan Bengstrom had another as the Nor'Easters' top line accounted for three of the four goals.
Norwich (11-6-0, 6-4-0 NEHC) took advantage of an early five-minute major power play, picking up two goals on the extended man-advantage to take a 2-0 lead. Junior co-captain Tyler Piacentini (South Weymouth, Mass.) scored his sixth goal of the season, deflecting an initial shot from Brian Rowland (Waltham, Mass.) past UNE goalie Mason Riley to put the Cadets up 1-0 at the 8:12 mark.
Sophomore forward Justin Charbonneau (Bromont, Quebec) made it 2-0 at the 12:02 mark of the first period with a tip into the top right corner of the net off a pass from Rowland at the point. Dean Niezgoda (Brewster, Mass.) picked up the secondary assist after winning the faceoff back to Rowland.
UNE got on the board just 20 seconds after Charbonneau's goal though with Ben Pearl deflecting a pass from the corner by Blaise Healy on a 2-on-1 just under the crossbar to cut the deficit back down to 2-1 for a shorthanded goal for the Nor'Easters.
Norwich took a two-goal lead again at the 3:25 mark of the second period with another power play goal to make it 3-1. Junior forward William Pelletier (St. Jean Chrysostome, Quebec) kept his hot streak up, rifling a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net off assists from Rowland and Connor Evangelista (Wakefield, Mass.).
UNE answered quickly again, scoring just 1:09 after Pelletier's goal to cut it back down to 3-2 when Dylan Bengston slipped a shot past Ty Reichenbach (Billings, Mont.) off assists from Trevor Fluerent and Kyle Williams.
Brady Fleurent knotted the game at 3-3 at the 7:24 mark by poking the puck through Reichenbach's five-hole off a centering pass from Trevor Fluerent. Bengston picked up the second assist.
Rowland notched a career-high three assists for Norwich and helped the Cadets for 3-for-7 on the power play. NU outshot UNE 32-19, but the Nor'Easters resiliency won the day as they responded quickly after every Norwich goal.
Ostepchuk was saddled with the loss after making nine saves in relief of Reichenbach. UNE's Mason Riley picked up the victory after making 29 saves.
Norwich returns to the ice Saturday at 4 p.m. when it hosts Southern Maine at Kreitzberg Arena in NEHC action. Saturday's tilt will mark the 300th NU men's hockey game in Kreitzberg Arena since it opened in 1998.
