Box Score (Courtesy of Norwich University Sports Information)
NORTHFIELD, Vt. -- Junior forward Pier-Olivier Cotnoir (Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec) scored twice to lead the number one ranked Norwich University (15-1-1; 10-1-0 ECAC East) men's ice hockey team to a 5-1 win over the University of Southern Maine (6-8-4; 4-5-2) in an ECAC Men's East game Friday night at Kreitzberg Arena.
The win marked the 600th victory of Norwich head coach Mike McShane's illustrious career spanning 31 seasons at St. Lawrence University, Providence College and Norwich. McShane ranks ninth on the all-time NCAA college hockey coaching list and is the only Division III coach in the top 10.
Friday's game got off to a slow start with both team's feeling each other out causing a lot of the play to stay bottled up in the neutral zone. The first shot didn't even come until 7:04 into the game. Norwich (15-1-1, 10-0-1 ECAC East) got on the board at the 7:20 mark when Cotnoir banged home a loose rebound at the bottom of the right faceoff circle to give the Cadets a 1-0 lead. Travis Janke (Swift Current, Saskatchewan) and Kyle Thomas (Waltham, Mass.) picked up assists on the goal.
Sophomore Alec Thieda (Rochester Hills, Mich.) made it 2-0 at the 2:47 mark of the second period when his slap shot from the blue line found its way through traffic and past Southern Maine sophomore goalie Braely Torris (Eckville, Alberta).
Senior Emmond Bell (Nepean, Ontario) made it 3-0 at the 13:23 mark of the second with a short-handed breakaway goal. Bell laid out to block a shot by a Southern Maine defenseman and the puck bounced off him and back out of the zone. He got to his feet and had a step on the Huskies' defender as he brought the puck in on Torris. With the defender draped all over him, Bell flipped the puck on his backhand off the right post and past a sprawled out Torris.
Cotnoir added his second of the night less than a minute into the third period when he blasted a shot from the point that beat Torris. Thomas and Janke picked up assists on the goal.
Southern Maine junior David Nies (Brookline, Mass.) broke Norwich goaltender Parker Carroll's bid for his second shutout of the season with a goal at 15:27 mark of the third off assists from sophomore Jamie Osborne (Grand Lake, N.S.) and senior Dan Rautenberg (Cape Elizabeth, Maine). The goal also broke Norwich's consecutive shutout minutes at 218:20.
Junior Colin Mulvey (Worcester, Mass.) capped the scoring with 21 seconds left in the game off an assist from Tory Allan (Davidson, Saskatchewan).
Norwich outshot Southern Maine 33-12. Carroll stopped 11 shots to improve to 10-1-1 on the season. Torris made 28 saves to drop to 6-6-4.
Southern Maine travels to Saint Michael's for an ECAC Men's East game on Saturday (4:00 p.m.). Norwich returns to action Saturday (4:00 p.m.) when it hosts the University of New England.
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