Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Senior goalie Tom Aubrun (Chamonix, France) tied the Norwich University men's ice hockey program record for career shutouts with a 28-save performance for his 12th career shutout in a 3-0 victory over No. 6-ranked Hobart College on Saturday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.
Aubrun tied Braeden Ostepchuk '18 with his fifth shutout of the season, buoyed by an incredible team defensive effort in the final five minutes to help preserve the clean sheet. Norwich blocked 10 shots in a three-minute span in the final four minutes of the game to help stymie the Hobart offense that came in averaging 4.61 goals per game, sixth best in NCAA Division III.
The Cadets won their fifth straight game vs. Hobart dating back to the 2018 New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) Championship loss at Kreitzberg Arena. Norwich (16-2-2, 11-1-1 NEHC) extended its unbeaten streak to 10 straight games with the victory. The Cadets will face the only team that is hotter in the country than them next Saturday, Feb. 1 in second-place Babson College, who is on a 14-game unbeaten streak. Norwich will take on UMass Boston at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31 prior to the Babson game.
Norwich junior forward Ryan Boucher (Fitchburg, Mass.) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at the 6:20 mark of the first period for his seventh goal of the season. Boucher beat Hobart sophomore goalie Liam Lascelle between his glove and his body with a snapshot from the left wing off assists from Felix Brassard (St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec) and Scott Swanson (Wheaton, Ill.).
The 1-0 lead would hold up until the 5:25 mark of the third period when Jordan Hall (Anchorage, Alaska) took advantage of a fortuitous bounce off a Hobart defender's skate to be left all alone in front of the net and cash in for his fifth goal of the season. Brett Ouderkirk (Monkland, Ontario) brought the puck into the zone and skated behind the net before circling around to the corner. He dropped the puck back to Josh Cronin (Langley. British Columbia), who sent the puck in towards the net. The puck bounced off a Hobart player's skate right onto the stick of Hall, who shoveled the puck top shelf and past a sprawled out Lascelle who tried to recover from the surprise change of direction.
Senior forward Taeron Lewis (Winnipeg, Manitoba) capped the scoring with his fourth goal of the season, sliding the puck through Lascelle from the bottom of the right faceoff circle off assists from TJ Dockery (Lockport, N.Y.) and Ouderkirk.
The Norwich team defense put in a yeoman's effort in the final four minutes to preserve the shutout. The Cadets blocked 10 shots in a three-minute span, including having a tired group out on the ice for a full two minutes during that span. Norwich blocked 25 shots in total in the game.
Hobart outshot Norwich 28-21. Lascelle made 18 saves for Hobart in the loss.
Norwich continued its hot streak on the power play, scoring its fourth power-play goal in the last two games with Lewis' goal in the third period.
Norwich remains in first place in the NEHC standings with five more games to play in the regular season. The Cadets have 23 points, while Babson trails in second place with 19 points, but has played one less game. New England College sits in third with 16 points, while Hobart is fourth with 14 points.
