NORTHFIELD, Vt.- Looking for a bounce back effort, the Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team returned to home ice to take on their intrastate rivals from Vermont State Castleton.

In the early going the Cadets had a decided territorial advantage, with a few chances missing the net and others stymied by Spartan goaltender Dominic Rodrigue. However, against the flow of play, Castleton would open the scoring with a wicked wrist shot by Matteo Turrin just before the halfway mark. Despite the deficit, Norwich continued to push the offense.

With four minutes to play in the period, the Cadets would even the score. After Devon Thibodeau (Pelham, On.) and Patrick O'Neal (Indiana, Pa.) exchanged passes along the left board, O'Neal would send the puck to the far point for Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, On.). Bertrand would fake a shot, drag the puck to the middle before firing a wrist shot passed Rodrigue to even the score.

Minutes later, the Cadets would go to the man advantage, where they would take the lead for good. Thibodeau, at center point, fed Nick Foster (Amherst, Mass.) at the top of the right circle for a one-timer, which was stopped by Rodrigue. But O'Neal was waiting for the rebound on the doorstep as he cleaned up the loose change with two minutes left in the opening frame. A period which ended with the Cadets holding a 14-4 edge in shots.

To open the second period, the Spartans had a brief flurry in an attempt to even the score, but were denied by Bryce Walcarius (Aylmer, On.). Five minutes into the period, Norwich would double their lead. After a faceoff win by O'Neal, Hayden Heinrich (Richmond Hill, On.) rang the puck around the boards to Nick Cordeiro (Mississauga, On.) who would find Patrick Del Vecchio (Mississauga, On.) with a home run pass, sending him on a breakaway and doubling the Norwich lead.

A minute and a half later, the Cadets would strike again in similar fashion. After Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) caused a Spartan turnover at their offensive blueline, he made sped towards the other end of the ice. Colin Elliott (Peterborough. On.) recovered the puck and sent Kerner on another breakaway, which he scored on to extend Norwich's lead to three. Two and a half minutes later, the lead was extended further. Harris Hilfiker (Middletown, N.J.) sent the puck along the blue line to Jason Galotti (Hanover, Mass.). Galotti found Holden Doggett (Oakville, On.) at the left circle for a shot that trickled through Rodrigue's pads making it a 5-1 game after the second period.

After finishing off a carryover penalty kill to start the third, Norwich continued to push the attack. Five and a half minutes in, a Del Vecchio shot from a sharp angle found its way through Rodrigue to push the lead to five with Del Vecchio's second of the game. Seconds later, Norwich would return to the powerplay where a Bertrand shot would be cleaned up by Elliott for his first collegiate goal, making the score 7-1 where it would stand.

"It was a fantastic team effort to earn three hard earned league points," Head Coach Cam Ellsworth said.

On deck of the Cadets, they will honor the three members graduating in the spring on Senior Day when they will host ninth ranked Skidmore at 4 PM on Jan 28.