GENEVA, N.Y.- After a brief homestand, the Norwich Men's Hockey team hit the road to visit two-time defending National Champion Hobart where the top ranked Statesmen would prevail.

From the get-go, Hobart held the early momentum and put Sami Molu (Toronto, On.) to the test. Eight and a half minutes in, after a defensive zone turnover caught Norwich out of position, Dominic Schimizzi would score to give the Statesmen the lead. Hobart kept pressing, but it would remain a one goal game with Molu making 12 stops.

Hobart continued to push the envelope in the second stanza, including a chance on the man advantage. With 11 minutes to play, Luke Aquaro was assessed a ten-minute misconduct which gave the Cadets life as they started to test Damon Beaver. Beaver kept Norwich off the board, and the Statesmen would extend their lead in the last minute of the second with Tristan Fasig converting off quick passing to make it a two-goal game after forty minutes with Molu making 18 saves in the period, 30 in total.

Early in the third, during the Cadets' lone man advantage of the game, they would draw within one. After Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, On.) helped keep the play alive, he touched it to Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y.). Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.) gathered it from O'Mara to send it cross ice to Johnny Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) for the one-timer to get Norwich on the board. Power play goals became a theme in the third period, as Hobart added two more of their own. The first being a point shot by Schimizzi for his second of the game, the second being Shane Shell camped in front of a yawning cage pushing the final score to 4-1 in a contest where Molu made 38 saves.

The Cadets and Statesmen will close out their weekend series tomorrow afternoon at The Cooler at 4 PM.