NORTHFIELD, Vt.- On the back of a dominant second half, the Norwich Men's Soccer team opened Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with an emphatic 4-0 shutout of Dean Saturday afternoon.

After the kickoff was pushed back an hour due to lightning in the area, the contest got underway with the Cadets holding the early edge in possession. Norwich had the first two shot attempts before the Bulldogs pinned Norwich, and nearly jumped ahead in the 12^th minute, but the goal was nullified by a handball. Minutes later, Kirk Rodgers (Lebanon, Ohio) made another stop.

As the half wore on, the Cadets took advantage of numerous opportunities on free kicks, with the Bulldogs being called for 11 fouls in the opening frame. Set pieces were shut down by Dean goalkeeper Jake Godwin, preserving the scoreless deadlock at the half.

The Bulldogs pressed to take the lead out of the locker room, but the Cadets would break through in the 63^rd minute. Andrew McDonough (Gilford, N.H.) and Alessandro D'Arena (Berlin, Conn.) exchanged touches before McDonough passed it along to Diego Fuentes (Valencia, Spain), who uncorked a frozen rope from 25 yards out with his right foot into the top right corner to put Norwich ahead, with McDonough and D'Arena earning their first collegiate points.

The Cadets kept the momentum going, as Shea Perkins (Carl Junction, Mo.) looked to extend the lead, but was turned away. In the last 15 minutes, Daniel Hennessey (Dubai, U.A.E.) and Sito Sandoval (Albuquerque, N.M.) subbed in and made their presence felt on the attack. In the 83^rd minute, Sandoval took a Hennessey throw-in that deflected off several Bulldog defenders and buried a shot that went off another Dean defender into the top right corner to extend the lead to two in the 83^rd minute for his first collegiate marker.

Two minutes later, Hennessey was pulled down by the jersey in the box, resulting in a penalty kick. He converted his attempt, sending the ball to the bottom right corner, just out of Godwin's reach, for his first goal at the college level. Hennessey added his second goal a minute later, dribbling the ball by Godwin again to clinch the 4-0 victory, giving Rodgers his second straight clean sheet.

Norwich will continue GNAC play when they return to the pitch next week, when they travel to Albertus Magnus on Sept. 13 for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.