Box Score MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – The Norwich University men's ice hockey team claimed its record 11th First Light Great Northern ShootOut title with a 5-2 win over Plattsburgh State on Sunday afternoon at Middlebury's Chip Kenyon '85 Arena.
The No. 6-ranked Cadets used a balanced offense with 13 different skaters tallying a point to win its first ShootOut title since 2018 and 11th in the 23-year history of the prestigious tournament.
Senior forward Brett Ouderkirk (Monkland, Ontario) earned tournament MVP honors for the second time in his career after scoring a goal in the de-facto title game on Sunday to add to his four-point night vs. MSOE on Friday.
Norwich (5-0-3, 2-0-3 NEHC) stretched its unbeaten streak to eight-straight games to open the season, which is its best start since the 2014-15 season when the Cadets went 12 straight unbeaten to open the year.
Junior goalie Andrew Albano (Hamilton, Ontario) made 24 saves to add to his 30 from Friday and improve to 4-0-0 on the season. Albano joined Ouderkirk on the All-Tournament team along with freshman Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) who earned Most Outstanding Rookie honors.
Norwich took a 2-0 lead after the first period with sophomore defenseman Joe Nagle (Weymouth, Mass.) and Ouderkirk scoring goals to stake the Cadets to the early advantage.
Nagle scored at the 7:49 mark of the first period with a shot from the point that found its way into the back of the net through traffic in front. Kerner and Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y.) picked up assists on the goal.
Ouderkirk scored on the power play to extend the lead to 2-0 when he took a pass from List and fired the puck past Anthony Del Tufo for his team-leading sixth goal of the season. Cale List (Petawawa, Ontario) and Philip Elgstam (Stockholm, Sweden) notched assists on the goal.
Plattsburgh State (5-4-1) came storming back in the second period with goals from Bennett Stockdale and Thomas Maia at the 12:55 and 14:41 mark to tie the game at 2-2 heading to the second intermission.
Norwich took the lead for good at the 4:42 mark with Elgstam netting the game-winning goal after he tipped a shot from Devon Becker (Langley, British Columbia) into the net. Alex Lewis (Moncton, New Brunswick) picked up the second assist for his first collegiate point.
The Cadets padded their lead late with an empty-net goal by Noah Williams (Cortland, N.Y.) at the 18:44 mark of the third period off an assist from Braedyn Aubin (Woodstock, Ontario). Williams capitalized on a puck hopping over the stick of Plattsburgh defenseman Corey Doney and put it into a wide-open net to seal the victory.
Graduate student captain Scott Swanson (Wheaton, Ill.) capped the scoring with less than a minute to go in the game off assists from Callum Jones (Burlington, Ontario) and Holden Doggett (Oakville, Ontario).
Plattsburgh State outshot Norwich 26-23 in the game. Del Tufo made 22 saves for Plattsburgh State to drop to 5-4-1 on the season.
Norwich extended its winning streak to five straight vs. Plattsburgh State. The Cadets now lead the all-time series 34-23-6 vs. the Cardinals.
Norwich returns home to Kreitzberg Arena on Friday and Saturday to host Southern Maine and Babson at 7 p.m. and 4 p.m. respectively. The Cadets then close the first half of the season on Tuesday, Dec. 7 with a road trip to Plattsburgh State's Stafford Ice Arena for a non-conference tilt.
