NORTHFIELD, Vt.- Still seeking their first win in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) play, the Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team returned to home ice to face UMass Boston.

The two side traded chances back-and-forth in the first four minutes, until UMass Boston's Gino Carabelli was sent off for a tripping minor. After Sami Molu (Toronto, On.) shut down a Beacons shorthanded chance, the Cadets would get an offensive zone faceoff, off the draw, Patrick O'Neal (Indiana, Pa.) would give the puck to Joe Nagle (Weymouth, Mass.) at the left point, who sent it to Patrick Del Vecchio (Mississauga, On.). Del Vecchio's wrist shot from the top of the right faceoff circle beat Beacon netminder Sam Best to break the ice with a powerplay goal.

As the period wore on, the Beacons began to take control holding Norwich without a shot on goal for a nine-minute stretch. As the period wound down, UMass Boston would tie the game up with 17 seconds left in the frame on a shot by Kevin Sadovski from the right circle through a screen to tie the game at one at intermission.
Early in the second period, the Cadets regained their footing. Just past the five-minute mark Owen Sclisizzi (Milton, On.) gained entry into the offensive zone briefly, but was turned away. As the Beacons looked to counter, Johnny Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) forced a turnover at the blue line, which was collected by Nick Foster (Amherst, Mass.) who wristed it by Best to break the tie with his first collegiate goal.

Both sides continued to trade opportunities as the second period wore on. With six minutes left to play, off a Paul Schmid (Linz, Austria) faceoff win, Nagle, from the bumper, sent the puck to Devon Thibodeau (Pelham, On.) at the center point for a one timer that deflected off a Beacon defender and found the back of the net doubling Norwich's lead. Eighteen seconds later, a defensive zone turnover by Norwich led to Sadovski's second of the game.

Soon after, the Beacons would earn their first powerplay of the game. A soft Beacons pass intended for the defenseman was picked off by Holden Doggett (Oakville, On.) who broke out with Schmid on a shorthanded two-on-one. Doggett would feed Schmid a centering pass in front of a sprawling Best and tap home the first Cadet short handed goal of the season.

The two-goal lead after 40 minutes became a one goal lead once again early in the third. Twenty-six seconds in, a rush chance by Jude Kurtas found its way high to the glove side to bring the Beacons within one. Afterwards, UMass Boston began to press for the tie, but Molu answered the call. The Cadets began to defend their lead by ragging the puck in their offensive zone, eventually leading to a Beacons penalty with under four minutes to play. After the foul was killed off, the Beacons were able to get the extra attacker, but only generated one shot on goal leading to a 4-3 Cadet win on a 32 save performance from Molu.

"I'm very happy to come away with our first win in league play," said Head Coach Cam Ellsworth. "We had some great efforts late to solidify it, starting with Sami and the back end, but now we have to turn the page to tomorrow."

On deck for the Cadets, they will play host to Johnson & Wales at 4 PM on Veteran's Day at Kreitzberg Arena.