NORTHFIELD, Vt.- After defeating the second ranked team in the country the night before, the Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team looked to ride that wave of momentum into their second meeting of the season with top ranked Hobart.

Even though the first period ended scoreless, there was plenty of action on both ends of the ice, in this clash of New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) titans with both sides trading chances in a period with a limited amount of flow. Both Sami Molu (Toronto, On.) and Hobart goaltender Damon Beaver came up with big stops along the way.
In the second period, the Statesmen held the Cadets under siege with momentum generated from a powerplay two minutes into the frame. After a brief Norwich flurry, Hobart went back on the attack, which was fueled by another unsuccessful man advantage. With two and a half minutes left in the second period, the Statesmen would break through.

After Jonah Alexander had a couple of opportunities denied by Molu, he would pass the puck behind his back to Shane Shell at the right faceoff circle. Shell's wrist shot found the corner of the net by Molu's blocker giving Hobart the one goal lead after two after they held an 11-4 shot edge in the period.

Out of the locker room to start the third, the Cadets would find the equalizer 37 seconds into the period. Off a faceoff win by Patrick O'Neal (Indiana, Pa.), the puck came to Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, On.) at the left point. Bertrand took a shot that found a mass of bodies in front of the goal. Collin Elliott (Peterborough, On.) got his stick on it before it came to Holden Doggett (Oakville, On.) who would poke it home passed Beaver for the equalizer.

With that, Norwich began to buzz around the offensive zone as they looked for the tiebreaker, but Beaver came up with numerous saves to keep the game tied. Late in the third, the Statesmen had a flurry of their own, but Molu answered the bell as well sending the game to overtime. Thirteen seconds into the extra frame, the Cadets went on their first man advantage of the game where Johnny Johnson (Naperville, Ill.). After Hobart killed off the penalty, they had chances of their own that were denied by Molu before Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y.) was stoned on the doorstep by Beaver clinching the 1-1 tie despite the Cadets holding a 25-6 shot advantage in the final 25 minutes.

"I was very happy with the way our team responded after a tough second period," Head Coach Cam Ellsworth said. "We had one of the best teams in the country in here and we went toe to toe with them and I'm excited to continue to grow with this group."

With the lengthy homestand concluded, Norwich will begin a stretch of five of their last seven games on the road. A stretch that opens with a trip to intrastate rival Middlebury on Jan 16 at 7 PM.