ATTLEBORO, Mass. - Junior forward Brady Gaudette (Braintree, Mass.) scored a hat trick as part of a four-point in his Norwich University men's hockey debut to lead the Cadets to a 6-2 win over Johnson & Wales on Friday night.

Freshman Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) continued his impressive rookie campaign, notching four assists to help lead the Norwich offense and bring his team-leading point total up to 21 points on the season. Freshman Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y.) had a goal and two assists, while sophomore Joe Nagle (Weymouth, Mass.) chipped in with a goal and an assist.

Gaudette scored two goals just 2:37 a part in the first period to get his inagural game in the Maroon & Gold off to an electric start. He scored another goal to break a 2-2 tie at the 4:49 mark of the second period to tally Norwich's first three goals of the game, including what proved to be the eventual game-winning goal.

Gaudette also tallied the primary assist on O'Mara's power-play goal at the 7:39 mark of the second period to complete his four-point night.

Brett Ouderkirk (Monkland, Ontario) made it 5-2 Norwich at the 11:58 mark of the second period off an assist from Patrick O'Neal (Indiana, Pa.). Nagle scored a power-play goal just 21 seconds into the third period off assists from Devon Becker (Langley, British Columbia) and Kerner. Becker now has 17 assists on the season, which leads all of NCAA Division III.

Norwich (7-3-4, 4-3-3 NEHC) finished 3-for-4 on the power play to add to its nation-leading 36.5 power-play percentage. 

Senior goalie Drennen Atherton (Winter Haven, Fla.) made 16 saves to pick up his fifth victory of the season and improve to 5-1-4.

Norwich will continue its road trip with a huge NEHC tilt vs. second-place UMass Boston at the Edward T. Barry Rink. The Cadets currently trail the Beacons by three points in the league standings, but UMass Boston has played one less game so far.