NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Junior forward William Pelletier (St. Jean Chrysostome, Quebec) returned to the lineup for the first time since the season opener in a big way, tallying six points to lead the Norwich University men's ice hockey team to an 8-0 win over Wesleyan University on Saturday night at Kreitzberg Arena.

Pelletier scored two goals and dished out four assists to pace the Cadet offense into the 2016 Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament Championship, where NU will meet defending NCAA Division III national champion Trinity College at 5 p.m. in Kreitzberg Arena. Trinity beat Manhattanville 4-3 in the first game on Saturday afternoon.

Pelletier scored Norwich's first two goals to jump start an offense that struggled through much of the first half of the season. That two-goal cushion was more than enough to hold up for sophomore goalie Braeden Ostepchuk (Lethbridge, Alberta), who stopped all 16 shots he faced to record his third shutout of the season and improve to 6-2-0.

Norwich (9-4-0, 6-3 NEHC) had 12 different players on the score sheet, including seven different goal scorers as the Cadet offense erupted for the second straight game, tallying 15 goals in its last two outings.

Pelletier opened the scoring at the 9:43 mark of the first period, slipping home a rebound on his backhand off an initial shot from the point by Alec Brandrup (Rochester, Minn.). Sophomore Mitch Byrne (Onaping, Ontario) picked up the second assist for his first point of the year.

Pelletier made it 2-0 at the 2:02 mark of the second period by slapping a quick shot past Wesleyan goalie Dawson Springs. Junior co-captain Austin Surowiec (Louisville, Ky.) setup the goal with a beautiful no-look pass from behind the net that caught the Wesleyan defense off guard. Brian Rowland (Waltham, Mass.) picked up the second assist.

Freshman defenseman Dave Robertson (Boissevain, Manitoba) made it 3-0 at the 5:33 mark of the second period with a slap shot blast five-hole past Springs off assists from Cody Smith (Hudson, Mass.) and Pelletier.

Junior co-captain Tyler Piacentini (South Weymouth, Mass.) capped the second period scoring with his fourth goal of the year off assists from Kevin Salvucci (Plymouth, Mass.) and Anthony Flaherty (South Boston, Mass.).

Norwich poured it on in the third period, scoring four more goals to cap an electrifying 8-0 win to start the 2016 portion of its schedule. Smith, Salvucci, Paul Russell (Andover, Mass.) and Surowiec each tallied goals in the third period to finish off the scoring. Ostepchuk even picked up a second assist on Russell's eighth goal of the season after he hit Pelletier on an outlet pass and then Russell banged in Pelletier's rebound for the goal.

Norwich outshot Wesleyan 37-16 on the night and went 1-for-2 on the power play.

The Cadets will look to win their third straight NSB Tournament title on Sunday after beating Buffalo State in 2015 and Amherst in 2014. NU has won its own tournament 11 times in the 17-year history.

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