Norman Nets Game Winner; Michals Stops 16

            GORHAM, Maine -- Rookie Brett Norman's (Dawson Creek, B.C.) second goal of the season early in the third period proved decisive as the University of Southern Maine men's ice hockey defeated Colby College, 3-2, in a non-conference game Saturday night at the USM Ice Arena.

            The victory snapped a two-game losing skid for the Huskies and improved their overall record to 5-14-0.  The Mules dropped their fourth straight game to slide to 5-11-2 overall.

            Junior Chad O'Brien (Johnstown, Pa.) picked the pocket of a Colby defender behind the net and fed a pass to Norman 20 feet out in front.  The rookie center snapped his shot past Colby senior goalie Jordan Nathan (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) to give the Huskies a 3-1 lead at the 3:27 mark.

            Colby closed to within one four minutes later as sophomore E.J. Rauseo (Methuen, Mass.) found the net for a power-play goal.  USM rookie goaltender Matt Michals (Needham, Mass.) stopped the initial shot from the left-wing circle by sophomore Devin Albert (Reading, Mass.), but the rebound wound up on the stick of rookie Cam MacDonald (Westford, Mass.) who fed Rauseo.  The goal was the 10th of the season for Rauseo.

            The Mules pulled Nathan with 1:11 remaining for the extra attacker, but were unable to get an equalizer to send the game into extra time.

            Southern Maine tallied the only goal of the opening period when junior Zach Dymock (Dutton, Ont.) found himself on the receiving end of a deflected pass from senior Lorne Miller (Montreal, Que.) to the right of Nathan.  Dymock quickly took advantage of the lucky bounce to score his fifth goal of the season at 2:09.

            The teams traded second-period goals to make it 2-1 after 40 minutes.  Colby tied the game at 4:34 as rookie Phil Klitirinos (Dollard-Des-Ormeaux, Que.) forced a turnover in the USM zone and fed classmate Michael Rudolf (Zug 6343, Switzerland) for a shot from the left-wing circle that beat Michals.

            USM regained the advantage at 11:30 when junior Todd Bannerman (Georgetown, Ont.) circled the net and stuffed in a shot for a power-play goal.

            Michals, playing in his first game, stopped 16 shots to earn his first collegiate win.  Nathan had 13 saves before heading to the bench for the extra skater.

            Southern Maine will play a rescheduled game on Tuesday evening (7:00 p.m.) hosting the University of New England.  Colby will be at home for its next two games against Hamilton College on Friday (7:00 p.m.) and Amherst College on Saturday (3:00 p.m.). 

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