GORHAM, Maine- The Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team closed out the 2024 portion of their campaign Saturday afternoon by closing out their weekend series against New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) foe Southern Maine where the two sides would battle to a draw.

Looking to bounce back after yesterday's defeat, the Huskies held the early edge including a powerplay two and a half minutes in which was killed off. Southern Maine would have a second man advantage later after coincidental minors which generated numerous shot attempts but only three found their way to Sami Molu (Toronto, On.). The successful kill generated momentum for the Cadets, resulting in a powerplay of their own along with a goal in the final minute. A shot by Jed Brazo (Homer, N.Y.) was stopped by Husky goalie Kyle Penton, the rebound came out to Devon Thibodeau (Pelham, On.) in the middle, which was also stopped, but Nick Cordeiro (Mississauga, On.) cashed in the loose change in front of Penton to put the Cadets ahead at the break.

Out of the locker room, the Huskies buzzed around the offensive zone and would tie the game with a Nick Nault wrist shot from the left point. Norwich had numerous chances to break the tie, but Penton did not budge. Against the flow of play, Owen Arend would score off the rush after cutting to the middle to give Southern Maine the one goal lead after forty.

The Cadets kept the momentum going to start the third and found the equalizer. After the play was kept alive at the blueline, Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y.) collected the loose puck at the right circle before setting up a wide-open Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) for a one timer that he blasted by Penton to even the score. The Huskies would weather the storm with back-to-back successful penalty kills but the Cadets kept pressing, not allowing a Southern Maine shot on goal in the first half of the period. Norwich continued to hold the upper hand throughout, but both Penton and Molu came up with several stops to send the game to extra time. Molu came up with three stops in overtime, with Hayden Heinrich (Richmond Hill, On.) also coming up with a block while Penton stopped Kerner on Norwich's lone opportunity to keep the game tied after 65 minutes. Mathieu Sabourin scored the lone goal of the shootout for the Huskies in the ninth round.

After a lengthy road swing, the Cadets will return to home ice to open 2025 when they host Williams on Jan. 3 at 7 PM as part of the Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament. That contest will follow the opening act of Hamilton vs Plymouth State.