NORTHFIELD, Vt.- The Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team returned to Kreitzberg Arena ice for the for the first time since Jan. 27. In that return home, they faced Southern Maine for the second straight game.

The early going in this playoff affair included back-and-forth action at both ends of the ice with both Sami Molu (Toronto, On.) and USM netminder Mason Palmer to the test. After the Cadets weathered a Husky flurry midway through the period, they found their skating legs and held the territorial edge.

Late in the period, the Cadets would break open the scoring. After a missed pass in the USM attacking end, Patrick O'Neal (Indiana, Pa.) would skate the puck the other way. On the two-on-one, O'Neal would center it for Nick Cordeiro (Mississauga, On.) whose original shot missed the net. Cordeiro would gather the puck behind the cage, bank it off Palmer's back and into the net to open the scoring and giving Norwich the 1-0 lead at intermission.

The back-and-forth action continued into the middle frame, with Molu making several stops early in the period, and Palmer following suit in a goaltending battle. After the Huskies weathered a flurry of Cadet opportunities, USM had Norwich pinned in their defensive zone for the last few minutes. But Molu and the Cadet defense came up big and kept the one goal lead headed into the third.

Early in the third, the Cadets would hold the territorial edge, however, the Huskies would tie the game halfway through. Cole Oulette won a foot race to the puck in the left corner and passed the puck back to Christoper Morrison who set up Kaden Ilott for the one-timer by Molu to even the score. After a brief Norwich press looking to regain the lead, it was USM who found the back of the net. Ethan MacDuff won a defensive zone faceoff and sent Curtis Judd in. Judd would put a wrist shot by Molu's glove to break the tie. For good measure, Jakub Suran scored a last second empty netter to seal the Husky victory.

The Cadets' season concludes after amassing 14 total win, 11 of which came in NEHC competition.