GORHAM, Maine- The Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team returned to New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) play Friday night when they travelled to Southern Maine, where they would ride an explosive first twenty minutes to victory.

After both sides traded opportunities in the first couple of minutes, the Cadets would strike first. A stretch pass from the Husky defensive zone was intercepted in the neutral zone by Cole Fagan (North Andover, Mass.). As he went for a line change, Fagan left the puck for Zach Ophoven (Burlington, On.) who entered the zone along the left boards, cut to the middle and wristed a shot by goaltender Mason Palmer on Norwich's first shot of the contest just under three minutes in with Fagan registering his first collegiate point.

After the opening goal, the Cadets continued to pour the pressure on Palmer before extending their lead at the halfway mark. After a Southern Maine dump in, Sami Molu (Toronto, On.) collected it behind the net, sending it along to Holden Doggett (Oakville, On.). Doggett sent the puck skyward before it was collected by Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) on a rush, beating Palmer high to the glove side extending the lead.

Three minutes later, Norwich struck again. Exiting the defensive zone on a three-on-two, Doggett started along the left side then cut to the middle leaving it to Kerner whose centering pass found a wide-open Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y.) for the tap in making it a three-goal Cadet lead. After a Husky timeout Norwich kept pressing but the score would stand at intermission.

Southern Maine substituted goaltenders at intermission and would eventually find the back of the net. A neutral zone faceoff was won forward by the Huskies generating a rush and Zach Desmarais would score to close the gap. Two minutes later, Norwich responded. Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, On.) kept the play alive at the right point, and sent the puck along the boards. Owen Sclisizzi (Milton, On.) tapped it along to Ben van Waterschoot (Whitby, On.). After he gathered it from the half wall, van Waterschoot moved to the top of the left circle and put home a wrist shot by Kyle Penton to regain the three-goal lead. Soon after, the Huskies would close the gap to two once again with Gavin Simopoulos finding the top right corner of the net.

The two sides went back-and-forth down the stretch, but Norwich kept Southern Maine in check throughout the third with Molu shutting the door. The Huskies pulled Penton with a minute and a half remaining but were held to one shot on goal with the extra skater as the Cadets preserved the 4-2 victory in a penalty-less affair. 

These two squads will return to action in Gorham on Dec. 7 at 4 PM in the final contest of 2024.