Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's ice hockey team closed out the 2019-20 regular season with its sixth straight shutout in a 6-0 victory over Suffolk University at Kreitzberg Arena in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action.
Senior goalie Tom Aubrun (Chamonix, France) picked up his sixth straight shutout, 10th of the season and 17th of his career. He made 16 saves to set the new NCAA Division III record for the longest consecutive minute shutout streak at 392:40.
Classmate Jordan Hall (Anchorage, Alaska) scored two goals and notched two assists as part of a four-point night to lead the Cadets' offense. Sophomore Brett Ouderkirk (Monkland, Ontario) had three assists, while Gabriel Chicoine (St. Dominique, Quebec) and Taeron Lewis (Winnipeg, Manitoba) each had a goal and an assist.
Hall scored the game-winning goal for the second straight night with his eighth goal of the season at the 13:03 mark of the first period. Hall scored off an assist from Lewis and Ouderkirk.
Ouderkirk created the scoring chance with a hard fore check, poking the puck away from a Suffolk player. Lewis corralled the puck at the bottom of the right faceoff circle and centered to Hall who was all alone in the slot and he easily slipped the puck past Jarrett Bovarnick stick side.
Norwich (21-2-2, 16-1-1 NEHC) extended the lead to 2-0 at the 4:50 mark of the second period with Chicoine scoring his fifth goal of the season off assists from Hall and Felix Brassard (St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec).
Bovarnick made two saves on Hall and then absolutely robbed Brassard with a full-split pad save with the NU junior crashing on the weak side. However, the second rebound kicked out to Chicoine who fired it through a crowd and into the open net before Bovarnick could recover.
Lewis scored his ninth goal of the season on a breakaway after Ouderkirk sprung him after a Suffolk player couldn't control the puck with his glove. Ouderkirk fed a lead pass to Lewis and then he skated in down the middle and beat Bovarnick with a wrist shot that bounced off the inside of the goalie's pad and into the back of the net.
Christian Thompson (Windham, N.H.) and Coby Downs (Montclair, Calif.) combined for a shorthanded goal at the 16:01 mark of the second period to make it 4-0 Norwich.
After Downs was denied twice on shots by Bovarnick, Thompson cleaned up the rebound, firing the puck into an open net for his second goal of the season.
Hall capped the second period scoring with his second goal of the game and his ninth goal of the season at the 17:35 mark. Ouderkirk created the play going coast to coast with the puck and then dropping it back to Hall from the goal line after evading three Suffolk players. Hall fired the puck into the far corner to finish off the power play goal. Chicoine had the second assist on the goal.
Philip Elgstam (Stockholm, Sweden) redirected a pass from the half boards by Alex Monteleone (Montreal, Quebec) for his fourth goal of the season to make it 6-0 Norwich at the 17:58 mark of the third period. Hall picked up the second assist after a cross-ice pass to Monteleone.
Norwich outshot Suffolk 46-16. Bovarnick made 40 saves for Suffolk in the loss.
Norwich had already clinched its 20th NEHC regular season title in the last 22 seasons coming into the weekend. The Cadets have secured the No. 1 seed for the NEHC Tournament and will take on Castleton on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. in the quarterfinal round at Kreitzberg Arena.
