CASTLETON, Vt. - The Norwich University men's lacrosse team rolled to a second-straight victory, this time downing intrastate foe Vermont State University Castleton, 17-8, in the team's annual Connor Roberts Memorial Game, this time hosted at Dave Wolk Stadium on Wednesday evening in non-conference action.

Tyler Seidel (Centreville, Md.) ignited the Cadets offensively, ripping in five goals to lead all scorers.  Drew Fleury (Nashua, N.H.) provided a hat trick, tallying three goals while also handing out two helpers.  A slew of other Cadets also found themselves in the box score, as Jackson Forbes (Merrimack, N.H.), Thomas Muraski (Keller, Texas), Christian Rainis (Wynantskill, N.Y.), Matt Meehan (Norfolk, Mass.), Chris Smith (Dawsonville, Ga.), Nicholas Wolfgang (New Port Richey, Fla.), Alex Johnston (Franklin, Tenn.), Mitchell McKay (Lynnfield, Mass.), and Coley Bagwell (York, Pa.) all provided a goal each to complete the Cadets' offensive onslaught.

Norwich wasted no time putting numbers on the scoreboard, as Forbes ripped in an unassisted tally less than two minutes in which was quickly followed by back-to-back McKay-to-Seidel connections, with the latter setting in motion five-straight goals in a less-than-three-minute span.  After Seidel's pair, Fleury ripped in three straight before Seidel completed his own hat trick with 2:54 remaining in the frame.  Out of the second period gates, McKay added his score to push the Cadets ahead, 8-0.

The Spartans ended their scoreless spree shortly after, but Norwich's momentum could not be halted, as the visitors outscored Castleton, 5-2, in the final seven minutes of the opening half to capture a 13-3 advantage.

Out of halftime, Muraski earned his first goal of the season off the opening faceoff, extending the Cadets' advantage even further.  Despite the Spartans responding with a goal of their own, goals from Smith and Meehan to close and open the third and fourth periods, respectively, granted Norwich the largest lead of the night at 16-4.

Four-straight goals in the fourth frame granted the Spartans some life, but a final man-up opportunity from Wolfgang killed all Castleton momentum, giving Norwich an insurance goal in the waning seconds as the Cadets claimed the 17-8 victory.

The Cadets enjoyed a whopping 44 shot attempts for the game, with 31 of them coming on goal.  Norwich went 16-20 on clear attempts while limiting Castleton to just six successful clears.  The Cadets scooped up 41 ground balls while proving victorious on 20 face offs, with Muraski going a near-perfect 14-15 while also securing 13 ground balls.

Norwich's defense was also relentless, as Clayton Cisar (Aberdeen, Md.) and Joshua McQuinn (Milton, Vt.) generated a pair of turnovers each.

Luke Boland (Tolland, Conn.) earned the win in front of the nylon, logging 11 saves in just over 49 minutes of action while allowing just five goals.

Prior to opening face-off, the Norwich University and VTSU Castleton teams honored Connor Roberts with a moment of silence.  The Connor Roberts Memorial Game was established in 2015 in memory of Roberts, a Norwich lacrosse player who passed away from a sudden heart attack after his sophomore year in 2014.  Norwich and Castleton have jointly hosted the Memorial Game, as his brother Ben played lacrosse and hockey with the Spartans.

Norwich will now hit the road for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) North Divisional bout at reigning conference champions Emmanuel College, scheduled for Saturday, Mar. 30, at 1:00 p.m.  The Cadets then travel to Lasell University on Wednesday, Apr. 3.