HOLDERNESS, N.H.-The Norwich Men's Ice Hockey team wrapped up its weekend road trip on Saturday night with its first-ever visit to Plymouth State, earning a hard-fought shootout victory after regulation and overtime ended in a 3–3 draw at Hanaway Rink.

The Panthers controlled play from the opening puck drop, setting the tone early with sustained offensive pressure. Plymouth State opened the scoring three-and-a-half minutes into the contest when a feed to the front found Will Pray alone in the slot, and he converted to give the hosts a 1–0 lead. The Panthers continued to dictate possession throughout the opening period, limiting Norwich's opportunities and outshooting the Cadets 15–3. Despite the imbalance, Sami Molu (Toronto, Ont.) was sharp, making a series of saves to keep the deficit to one heading into the first intermission.

Norwich weathered an early penalty to begin the second period, and the successful kill proved to be a turning point. Following the stop, the Cadets flipped the script and began applying consistent pressure in the offensive zone, testing Plymouth State goaltender Brandon Shantz.

That pressure paid off with seven minutes remaining in the period. Ben van Waterschoot (Whitby, Ont.) stripped a Panther defender of the puck along the left boards as Plymouth attempted to exit the zone. Van Waterschoot quickly moved it down low to Nick Cordeiro (Mississauga, Ont.), who found Zach Ophoven (Burlington, Ont.) at the top of the crease. Ophoven finished the play to even the score at 1–1.

The tie was short-lived, however, as Plymouth State responded just 24 seconds later. After a flurry of chances around the Norwich net, Matt Hale found the loose puck and buried it to put the Panthers back in front.

Moments later, Plymouth State was sent to the penalty box, and Norwich capitalized. Frank D'Ancona (Fort Myers, Fla.) carried the puck into the zone with speed down the left side before moving it to Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, Ont.). Bertrand fired a cross-ice pass to van Waterschoot, who one-timed the puck past Shantz to level the game once again.

The back-and-forth second period continued, and the Panthers answered yet again. Just 1:15 after Norwich's power-play goal, Plymouth State evened the score on the man advantage, as Will Redick converted to cap a frenetic stretch of scoring and send the teams into the second intermission tied 3–3.

The third period featured end-to-end action, with both sides generating quality looks but unable to break the deadlock. Molu and Shantz traded saves as the pace remained high, and neither team could find the go-ahead goal, forcing overtime.

The extra session delivered plenty of drama. Early on, Shantz made a sprawling save to deny van Waterschoot, keeping the Panthers alive. Molu responded at the other end with multiple stops of his own. After D'Ancona was turned aside on a quality chance, Plymouth State was awarded a penalty shot. Molu rose to the moment, stonewalling Redick to preserve the tie. The Panthers continued to push late in overtime, but Molu stood firm, sending the contest to a shootout.

In the shootout, Cooper Bertrand provided the lone goal, while Molu was perfect in net, stopping all three Plymouth State attempts. Molu finished the night with 39 saves, capping a standout performance that anchored the Cadets through extended pressure.

"Credit to Plymouth, they came out hard and put us on our heels," said Head Coach Dominick Dawes '04. "We had a lot of adversity through the week and weekend with some injuries and sickness. But credit to the guys for battling through. Sami came up huge for us late, and those will be big points."

The Cadets will return to Kreitzberg Arena for their next contest, hosting UMass Boston on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.