NORTHFIELD, Vt.- The Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team completed their weekend sweep of UMass Boston Saturday afternoon with a stellar defensive effort and three different goal scorers to take the 3-1 victory.

The early part of the contest struggled to get a flow going with numerous stoppages. Once a flow was established, the Cadets drew first blood on their second shot of the contest. Ben van Waterschoot (Whitby, On.) exited the puck from the defensive zone along the right-wing board where he and Cole Fagan (North Andover, Mass.) exchanged turns carrying the puck. Van Waterschoot gained the zone and centered it to Fagan, whose one timer was mostly stopped by Tyler Bost, but the puck trickled passed him for the first goal of the game. Both Bost and Sami Molu (Toronto, On.) traded saves, with Molu helping Norwich kill a late penalty, to keep it a one score game after one.

In the opening minutes of the second, the Beacons went to the sin bin for the first time. It did not take long for the Cadets to extend their lead. After the opening faceoff win, and the initial cycle, Nick Foster (Amherst, Mass.) passed the puck along the right side to Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, On.) who teed it up for a Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) one-timer that blistered by Bost for the two-goal lead. The two sides limited each other's chances, including a successful Norwich penalty kill, for the rest of the frame keeping the margin at two.

Looking to preserve the lead, the Cadet penalty kill went to work two more times in the third and was successful both times. With six and a half minutes left, Jakob Teply scored to bring it down to a one goal game. The goal gave the Beacons life, as they sought the equalizer in the waning minutes. UMass Boston struggled to generate offense with the extra attacker. Eventually, after efforts from Hayden Heinrich (Richmond Hill, On.) and Holden Doggett (Oakville, On.), Jason Galotti (Hanover, Mass.) sent the puck the length of the ice for the empty netter sealing the victory.

The Norwich homestand will roll on next weekend when they will entertain intrastate foe Vermont State Castleton as they continue New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action Jan. 17 at 7 PM.