HENNIKER, N.H. – The New England College men's ice hockey team opened up their conference slate with an exciting shootout win over visiting Norwich University on Friday evening at Lee Clement Arena in Henniker, New Hampshire.
THE BASICS
Score: Norwich 1, New England College 1
Records: Cadets 2-1-0, 2-0-1 NEHC | Pilgrims 0-2-1, 0-0-1 NEHC
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The first period between the Cadets and Pilgrims was clean and evenly matched, with no penalties nor goals from either side. Starting his first game of the season, freshman goaltender Anthony Beaulieu (Lawrence, Mass.) got off to a strong start making 11 saves in the period.
- The game's first penalty came around eight minutes into the second period and gave Norwich the first power play of the night. At 9:07, the visitors would capitalize and score the game's first goal on a strike from Clark Kerner (Kansas City, Kan.).
- The Cadets were on the verge of scoring again just a few minutes later when a fast break presented a 3-on-1 advantage; But a Norwich stumble and a strong poke by freshman defenseman Bryce Sturm (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) snuffed out the scoring chance and the score remained 0-1 through the end of period number two.
- Late in the third period, with the Pilgrims still down 1-0 and just 3:41 on the clock, senior forward David Novotny (Boca Raton, Fla.) came through in the clutch and delivered his first goal of the season to tie the game up at 1-1. Novotny received the puck in front of the Norwich net and rifled a shot past the goaltender's right shoulder. Sophomore center Paul Waldhauser (Klagenfurt, Austria) and sophomore forward Gunnar Sibley (Monticello, Minn.) were credited with assists on the game-tying goal.
- The Novotny game-tying goal would eventually send the game to overtime, and the five-minute extra period saw both teams put four shots on goal, but neither would be able to break the tie sending the contest into a shootout.
- Norwich went first in the shootout and the first Cadet was denied by Beaulieu. After senior forward Jesper Tarkiainen (Naperville, Ill.) saw his shot saved by Norwich's Sami Molu (Toronto, Ont.), Beaulieu would make a second consecutive stop to put the pressure back onto Norwich. With the first three attempts all stopped, freshman forward Egor Osipik (Minsk, Belarus) seized the moment for the 'Grims and used a nifty move to beat Molu and score. Needing one more stop to claim the shootout, Beaulieu came through with another remarkable save to send NEC home with a shootout win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Beaulieu was remarkable in his first career start, making 32 saves while additionally stopping all three shootout attempts.
- Molu was equally brilliant for the Cadets, allowing just one goal in regulation while making 35 saves but falling just short in the shootout.
- This was NEC's first win against Norwich since December 8th, 2018, having gone 0-10-1 in that time.
- Shots on goal were 36-33 in favor of the 'Grims.
- NEC won the faceoff battle, 33-25.
UP NEXT
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