NORTHFIELD, Vt.- It was a battle between two nationally ranked programs in the title game of the Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament, with eleventh ranked Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team playing host to thirteenth ranked University of New England.

After an extended feeling out process in the first two minutes, the Cadets put the pedal to the metal and outshot the Nor'easters 9-1 in the first ten minutes of the game with UNE netminder Billy Girard keeping the game scoreless. Despite all the offensive zone pressure, it was the Nor'easters who broke through first. Just passed the halfway point of the frame, Anthony Sciucco made an outlet pass from his defensive zone along the left wing boards to Juraj Elias. Elias centered the puck in front to Ryan Kuzmich, as he was driving the net, for the game's opening score on UNE's second shot of the game.  

Norwich kept pressing after falling behind, but then the Nor'easters found some time in their offensive zone. A brief flurry of opportunities with Sami Molu (Toronto, On.) making a number of stops, and Matt Harvey (Fort Covington, N.Y.) blocking three shots in quick succession.

After that brief flurry, the Cadets would keep pressing, which drew a man advantage with just over a minute to play in the frame. Early in the powerplay, Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y.) took a wrist shot from the slot which was turned away by Girard. The second chance by Johnny Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) was also denied, but the third chance by Jed Brazo (Homer, N.Y.) was not missed, as he would tie the game with 44 seconds remaining in the first.

Early in the second period, the Cadets were granted another powerplay, but this time Girard and the Nor'easter penalty kill did not budge. As the period wore on, UNE started to generate more momentum in their offensive end. Late in the frame, they would go to their first powerplay of the game, which generated five shots, but Molu was equal to the task and kept the game scoreless after 40 minutes.

The Nor'easter momentum continued into the third period, as they kept the Cadets without a shot in the first seven minutes of the frame. The pressure eventually led to their second powerplay of the period with five and a half minutes remaining. After a blocked shot was kept alive at the blueline by Jacob Pellerin, he sent the puck to the corner for Logan DiScanio who gave it off to Dominic Murphy. Murphy circled to the left faceoff dot and roofed a wrist shot over Molu's blocker to put UNE in front. Norwich would get two more powerplay opportunities, including one with Molu pulled for the extra attacker, but came up empty.

"I'm disappointed with the result, but I thought there were a lot of positives from the weekend. I'm looking forward to using this help grow together as a group," Head Coach Cam Ellsworth said.

Norwich will return to New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action with four straight games on home ice, starting with Southern Maine on Jan 5 at 7 PM.

All-Tournament Team: 
Aurora: #21 Jakson Kirk
Wesleyan: #25 Parker Sondag
Norwich: #15 Bryan O'Mara
Norwich: #20 Clark Kerner
UNE: #37 Dominic Murphy
UNE: #26 Logan DiScanio
MVP: UNE #1 Billy Girard