GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine Huskies and Norwich University Cadets battled to a 2-2 tie on Saturday in New England Hockey Conference action. Fifth year senior Nick Nault (Goffstown, N.H.) and freshman Owen Arend (Palmetto, Fla./Kents Hill School) had goals for the Huskies and senior Mathieu Sabourin (Alexandria, Ontario) scored the lone goal of the shootout in the ninth round. Norwich's goals came from Nick Cordeiro and Clark Kerner.
 
Senior Kyle Penton (Waltham, Mass./Albany Academy) made 39 saves for the Huskies. Freshman Ryan Pappalardo (Salem, N.H.) recorded the first point of his career with an assist on Nault's goal.
 
The Records:
Norwich: 4-3-2 (3-1-2 NEHC)
Southern Maine: 2-6-1 (0-5-1 NEHC)
 
Series History:
The Huskies and Cadets have now played 52 times with Norwich leading the series 45-4-3.  
 
The Goaltenders:
Norwich: Sami Molu (4-3-2), 65:00, two goals allowed, 27 saves
Southern Maine: Kyle Penton (1-2-1), 65:00, two goals allowed, 39 saves
 
How It Happened:

• The Huskies outshot the Cadets 11-1 over the first 12 minutes of the game, but Cordeiro scored on the power play in the final minute of the first period to give Norwich a 1-0 lead. His goal was assisted by Devon Thibodeau and Jed Brazo.
• Nault launched a shot from the point just over two minutes into the second period to tie the game at 1-1. Pappalardo and sophomore Matt Sullivan (Hingham, Mass./New Hampton School) recorded the assists. The score remained tied until Arend took a pass from senior captain Jeff Pollara (Braintree, Mass) and split two Norwich skaters to fire a shot past Molu. Junior Conor Donovan (Nahant, Mass./Swampscott) also had an assist on the goal.
• Norwich tied the game at 2-2 80 seconds into the third period off a one-timer by Kerner. Bryan O'Mara fed him the pass after a tremendous effort by Kerner helped keep the puck in the Huskies' end of ice.
• The teams were still tied after 60 minutes and went to overtime where the Huskies dominated the time of possession. Southern Maine put three shots on goal but all three were saved by Molu.
• After eight rounds of failed attempts in the shootout Sabourin beat Molu and Penton denied Colin Elliott to give the Huskies the shootout win.

 
Inside The Stats:

• Southern Maine killed three penalties in the game and went 0-for-2 on the power play.
• Norwich had a slight 38-34 lead in faceoff wins but Sabourin led all players with 15 wins.
• Norwich led 15-9 in blocked shots.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies play their final game of 2024 next Friday, December 13 at 7:00 pm against the University of New England.