NORTHFIELD, Vt.- The Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team closed out their three-week January homestand by collecting their fourth straight New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) victory by completing the weekend sweep of Vermont State Castleton Saturday afternoon.

After numerous stoppages in the early going, the Cadets would gain the momentum and put Spartan goaltender Josh Ward to the test, and would draw first blood nine minutes in. Cole Fagan (North Andover, Mass.) gained possession along the right-wing board before sending the puck to Harris Hilfiker (Middletown, N.J.) at the point. Hilfiker's original shot was stopped by Ward, but Johnny Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) was waiting on the doorstep to pot the rebound to put Norwich ahead.

The two sides traded shifts in their offensive ends with both Ward and Sami Molu (Toronto, On.) being put to the test. With under three minutes to go, Norwich would extend their lead. After a Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) faceoff win in the defensive zone, Holden Doggett (Oakville, On.) led a rush the other way before dishing it off to Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y.) as he gained the attacking blueline. O'Mara dropped it back to Matt Harvey (Fort Covington, N.Y.) who roofed a shot by Ward's blocker to give the Cadets a two-goal lead at intermission.

In the opening minutes of the second stanza, Norwich looked to put their foot on the gas to further extend their lead. While they held the momentum to start, the Spartans called a timeout which quelled the momentum. Both Ward and Molu shined in the frame as the score remained the same after forty minutes.

In the first three minutes of the third period, Castleton would cut the Norwich lead in half with an Emmett McHardy tally jamming one home from a sharp angle. After the Spartans were unsuccessful on the lone man advantage of the contest, they continued to seek the equalizer. However, against the flow of play, it would be the Cadets who found the scoreboard. After another defensive zone faceoff win by Kerner, Owen Sclisizzi (Milton, On.) and Nick Cordeiro (Mississauga, On.) exchanged passes in the neutral zone. Sclisizzi's original shot was stopped by Ward, but Cordeiro hammered home the loose rebound to regain the two-goal lead.

After Ward was summoned to the bench for an extra attacker, Castleton would close the gap to one with Luke Chakrabarti putting home a puck that was originally shot wide by Zach Papapetros. The Spartans net would empty again, but Norwich prevented any shots towards Molu cementing the win.

After a strong conclusion to their homestand, the Cadets will hit the road to take on top ranked Hobart Friday night Jan. 24 at 7 PM.