NORTHFIELD, Vt.- The North Country's favorite Thanksgiving tradition returns to Kreitzberg Arena over the holiday weekend as Norwich University will host the 27^th LayerEight Shootout on Nov. 28 and 29.

Kicking off the weekend festivities at 4:00 p.m. is a matchup between the two most recent tournament champions: last year's victor, Middlebury, and Plattsburgh State, who took home the two previous titles, in the 59^th all-time meeting between the two historic programs.

The Panthers enter the tournament, splitting their first two New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) weekends of the early season, dropping their first two on the road to Bowdoin and Colby before defeating Tufts and Connecticut College on home ice. Through those first four contests, freshman defenseman Jake Stevens leads the way in points with three helpers, while Dante Palombo leads the way with two goals. In goal, Andrew Heinze started three of those four contests, posting a .918 save percentage.

It's been an up-and-down start to the season for the Cardinals. After opening the campaign, sweeping non-conference games against Vermont State Castleton, and Plymouth State, before opening State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) play by visiting archrival, eighth-ranked Oswego and top-ranked Hobart, coming up short in both. Their losing streak stretched to three this past weekend against Morrisville before snapping their skid in overtime against Cortland. Three players are tied for the team lead in points: Aaron Catron, Jake Sacratini, and Lonan Bulger, with five each. In goal, all three netminders split time evenly, accumulating a team save percentage of .940.

In the second half of Friday's twin bill, the hosting Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team will hold its first-ever contest against Stevenson, where Dominick Dawes '04 spent the last nine seasons as Head Coach.

Dawes's current squad is off to a good start, as the Cadets have earned victories in four of their first six Little East Conference (LEC) contests, earning league points in five of them, highlighted by an emphatic 5-2 win over Plymouth State on Nov. 7. Leading the way in the stat column for the maroon and gold is Jed Brazo (Homer, N.Y.) with six points (two goals, four assists), closely followed by Colin Elliott (Peterborough, Ont.) with five points (three goals, two assists). Freshman Ocean Fancy (Orleans, Mass.) is tied with Elliott for the team lead in goals, while Devon Thibodeau (Pelham, Ont.) and Boyd Stahlbaum (Peterborough, Ont.) are tied with Brazo for the team high in helpers. In goal, Sami Molu (Toronto, Ont.) carries the load, starting five of the first seven contests, posting a .913 save percentage.

They will face a Mustangs team that has won four in a row and five of their first seven contests, including blowout victories over Misericordia and Arcadia in Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) play. This success followed their first-ever MAC title last season, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Three players lead Stevenson's offense with double digits in the points column through seven contests: John Musella (five goals, eleven assists), Blake Benson (six goals, seven assists), and Jack Karlsson (one goal, nine assists). Ford DeLoss carries the load between the pipes for the Mustangs with a .931 save percentage through five games.

The results of the semifinal doubleheader on Friday will dictate the Saturday slate, with puck drop for the third-place game slated for 4:00 p.m., followed by a 7:00 p.m. start for the championship game.