NORTHFIELD, Vt.- In the second game of Friday's doubleheader to open the 27^th LayerEight Shootout, the Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team faced Stevenson for the first time Friday night, riding two first-period goals and goaltending from Bryce Walcarius (Aylmer, Ont.) to advance to Saturday's championship game.

After the two sides became familiar with each other early, the Cadets began testing Mustang goaltender Ford DeLoss and broke through four minutes into the game. After DeLoss turned aside a chance by Frank D'Ancona (Fort Myers, Fla.), the rebound went behind the net and was sent along to Jed Brazo (Homer, N.Y.). Brazo's feed got deflected to Boyd Stahlbaum (Peterborough, Ont.), who ripped a one-timer by DeLoss to break the ice.

After Stevenson rang an opportunity off the post, Norwich extended their lead 1:38 after opening the scoring. D'Ancona and Colin Elliott (Peterborough, Ont.) rushed into the attacking zone, with D'Ancona finding Elliott after a give-and-go, stretching the lead to two. The Mustangs attempted to counter with several opportunities, but Walcarius repeatedly turned them away to preserve the lead after twenty minutes.

After Stevenson had several chances turned away early in the second, they closed the gap just shy of eight minutes into the period. Seconds into a four-on-four off coincidental minors, the original shot off a faceoff win hit the post and was cleaned up by Carson Galin to make it a one-goal game.

After Walcarius made several more key stops, the Cadets regained the two-goal lead with five minutes left in the middle frame. A hustle play by Zach Ophoven (Burlington, Ont.) beat out an icing call, and he took possession after forecheck pressure from Nick Cordeiro (Mississauga, Ont.). Ophoven found Ben van Waterschoot (Whitby, Ont.) open by the left circle, where DeLoss stopped his original shot, but he buried his own rebound to put Norwich up two after two.

Walcarius continued to hold the fort into the third period, backstopping a successful penalty kill in the early stages. The Cadets continued to hold the fort, including several key blocks from Matt Harvey (Fort Covington, N.Y.). In the dying minutes, DeLoss went to the bench for the extra attacker, and Joe Schubert (Oconomowoc, Wis.) sent a clearing attempt into the empty cage for his first collegiate goal, sealing the win for the Cadets.

"Obviously we have a great start," Head Coach Dominick Dawes '04 said. "I thought we handled there push in the second period very well, and I thought our decisions with the puck were our best in the third. Guys earned the right to play for a championship tomorrow and we are looking forward to it."

With the win, Norwich advances to Saturday's LayerEight Shootout Championship game, where they will face intrastate rival Middlebury in a rematch of last year's title game at 7:00 p.m., following the consolation contest between Stevenson and Plattsburgh State.