NORTHFIELD, Vt.- The Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team returned to New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) play Friday night when they played host to UMass Boston. In the contest the Cadets would ride a strong wave of momentum to a 3-2 victory.

Early in the contest, the Beacons would strike first 1:20 in on a counter rush where Koyle Bankauskas would find the back of the net to open the scoring. UMass Boston rode that wave of momentum looking to extend their lead by were kept in check by Sami Molu (Toronto, On.). As the period wore on, Norwich began to regain the momentum and would fully take the driver's seat after too many players on the ice call to the Beacons, despite not scoring on the man advantage.

Soon after, the Cadets would draw even. Despite losing the draw, Owen Sclisizzi (Milton, On.) regained possession along the board behind UMass Boston goalie Tyler Bost. Sclisizzi put the puck in front to Anthony Domina (Odenton, Md.) who jammed it home to tie the game. Norwich kept pressing but Bost stood tall keeping the game tied after the first period with the maroon and gold holding an 18-6 shot advantage.

The Cadets kept the momentum going in the second period as they would continue to pepper Bost, but could not extend their lead despite three chances on the power play. Later in the frame Norwich was assessed a five minute major. While shorthanded, they would finally break the deadlock. With 15 seconds left in the period, Bost came out to play the puck and pass it off. The pass attempt was knocked out of mid air by Cole Fagan (North Andover, Mass.) who made a move around Bost to tuck it in for his first collegiate goal, giving the Cadets the lead at the end of two.

After Norwich completed the five-minute penalty kill, they would continue to limit UMass Boston's chances. With a minute and a half to go, Bost was summoned to the bench for the extra attacker. Norwich stifled the Beacons not allowing anything towards Molu before Colin Elliott (Peterborough, On.) intercepted the puck and sent Ben van Waterschoot (Whitby, On.) towards the empty net to seal the deal. Bankauskas would bang home his second goal of the game in the final second to close the gap to one.

The Cadets and Beacons will round out their weekend series at Kreitzberg Arena Jan. 11 at 4 PM.