PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.- The Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team travelled across Lake Champlain to open up this year's edition of the LayerEight Shootout. Their first opponent was their in-state rival from Middlebury.

Off the opening puck drop, the Cadets kept the Panthers on their heels with three shots in the first two minutes of action. Middlebury did not tally a shot until seven minutes into the frame, as Norwich kept them pinned down in their defensive end. Shortly after, Devon Thibodeau (Pelham, On.) dumped the puck into the offensive zone creating a footrace to the puck won by Brady Harroun (St. Albert, Alb.). Harroun centered it from below the goal line to Holden Doggett (Oakville, On.) to break the ice.

Looking to tie the score, the Panthers had their first golden opportunity soon after, as they were largely kept out of high danger areas, but Sami Molu (Toronto, On.) shut down Andrej Hromic. The Cadets would come close to doubling their lead on a net mouth scramble late in the period, to no avail, however their persistence would pay off. An aggressive forecheck would force a Panther turnover in their defensive zone, Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) collected the loose puck and got it to Doggett for the original shot. Middlebury Thomas Giroux got most of the shot, but the puck trickled behind him by Harroun for his first collegiate goal within the last two minutes of the first. After twenty minutes, Norwich held a decided advantage in possession and shots on goal as they outshot the Panthers 15-5.

Middlebury came out in the second period looking to claw back in the game, as Jin Lee had a chance within the first minute that Molu turned aside. Shortly after, they were granted their first powerplay of the game but that was killed off with Norwich stymying any potential Middlebury offense. Less than a minute after the kill was completed, the Cadets went on their first powerplay of the game which yielded immediate results. Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, On.) got the puck in the high slot from Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y.) and threw a wrist shot on that went through Giroux's pads giving Norwich a three goal lead. The Panthers quickly responded, however, as Hromic capitalized on a Norwich turnover 17 seconds later to bring the margin back to two.

The Middlebury goal began a parade to the penalty box, with both sides going down a man for a short period of time with some of it being at four-on-four. Once the two sides got back to five-on-five, Middlebury looked to get back in the game, but were kept out of high danger area and Molu stood tall when called upon. Late in the period, Middlebury went back on the penalty kill. Directly off the faceoff to begin the man advantage, Paul Schmid (Linz, Austria) won the faceoff to Patrick O'Neal (Indiana, Pa.) whose turnaround shot from the left inner hashmarks pushed the Cadet lead back to three where the two sides would stand after forty minutes.

Early in the third, the Panthers went back to the powerplay which generated no shots. Almost immediately out of the box, Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) handcuffed the Middlebury attacker and sprung a breakaway where he would score the fifth goal of the afternoon for Norwich. Later in the period, captain Joe Nagle (Weymouth, Mass.) would put a wrist shot through a screen by Giroux for the sixth goal. To round out the scoring, Devon Thibodeau (Pelham, On.) would wrist one by the glove of Giroux making the final tally 7-1 with 12 different Cadets finding the scoresheet.

"I thought we played a strong game up and down the lineup," said Head Coach Cam Ellsworth. 

With the victory, Norwich will compete in the championship game of the LayerEight Shootout. They will face the winner of St. Olaf and Plattsburgh State on Nov 25 at 7 PM back at the Ronald B Stafford Ice Arena.