NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University men's ice hockey team went to overtime for the ninth time this season, skating to a 1-1 tie with No. 7-ranked Elmira in a thriller on Friday night at Kreitzberg Arena in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action. 

Norwich (12-4-5, 9-4-4 NEHC) got a goal from senior defenseman Logan vande Meerakker (Dieppe, New Brunswick) scored a power-play goal, while senior goalie Drennen Atherton (Winter Haven, Fla.) made 31 saves to help the Cadets earn a point. 

Norwich closes out the regular season on Saturday at 4 p.m. when it hosts No. 6-ranked and first-place Hobart on Senior Day. The Cadets currently sit in fifth place in the NEHC standings. Norwich will need at least two or three points and then a Babson loss at Southern Maine to have a shot at hosting a NEHC Quarterfinal next Saturday. 

Elmira (16-5-2, 10-4-2 NEHC) struck first at the 12:54 mark of the first period with Ryan Reifler snapping a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net for his seventh goal of the season. Jared Smith and Chance Gorman picked up assists on the goal on the 3-on-2 rush. 

Norwich answered at the 14:18 mark of the second period with vande Meerakker blasting a one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle that beat Elmira goalie Chris Janzen for his second goal of the season. Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) and Keegan Mantaro (Monument, Colo.) notched assists on the goal. Kerner set up the goal with a cross-point pass across the top of the slot to set up the one-timer from vande Meerakker. 

Both team had a multitude of chances in overtime. Norwich's best chances came from Patrick O'Neil and Scott Swanson in the final minute, but Janzen stoned the Cadets at point-blank-range on both shots. 

Just prior to that Atherton made two incredible sprawled out saves to rob Graham Denomme twice on a breakaway during 3-on-3 overtime. 

Norwich will honor eight seniors prior to puck drop for tomorrow's Hobart game.