NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The University of Southern Maine Huskies men's ice hockey team upset nationally-ranked Norwich University 3-1 on Saturday night thanks to three goals in the final 10:30 of the third period. Norwich entered the game ranked No. 12 in the country and as the second seed in the New England Hockey Conference Tournament. Senior Curtis Judd (Newton, Mass./Albany Academy) scored with 2:19 left in the period to break a 1-1 tie and sophomore Jakub Suran (Liberec, Czech Republic) finished off Norwich with an empty-net goal. Junior goaltender Mason Palmer (Cumming, Ga./Georgia Connections Academy) made 37 saves in the win.
 
The Records:
No. 7 Southern Maine: 10-13-3 (6-9-3 NEHC)
No. 2 Norwich: 14-8-4 (11-4-3 NEHC)
 
Series History:
Today marked the 50th meeting between Norwich and Southern Maine. Norwich leads the series 44-4-2. The win is the first playoff win for the Huskies over the Cadet. Norwich had now won all seven playoff meetings prior to tonight.
 
The Goaltenders:
Norwich: Sami Molu (7-6-2), 58:17, two goals allowed, 26 saves
Southern Maine: Mason Palmer (5-2-2), 60:00, one goal allowed, 37 saves
 
How It Happened:

• Nick Cordeiro gave Norwich a 1-0 lead with 2:46 to go in the first period thanks to an assist from Patrick O'Neal. Cordeiro scored from behind the net by banking a shot off of Palmer.
• There was no scoring in the second period as Palmer held tough in goal with 13 saves and Molu stopped all 12 shots he faced.
• Sophomore Kadin Ilott (Kenora, Ontario/Beaver Brae Secondary School) blasted a one-timer into the net off a feed from senior Cole Ouellette (Lewiston, Maine) to tie the game with 10:30 to go. Senior Christopher Morrison (Ridgefield, Conn./Nichols School) also assisted.
• Judd broke the tie with a glove-side shot with freshman Ethan MacDuff (Lloydminster, Alberta) assisting off the faceoff win with less than three minutes remaining.
• Suran added an empty-netter with one tick left of the clock to close out the contest.
• Palmer made another 13 saves in the third to hold off Norwich.

 
Inside The Stats:

• The teams played a clean game with no penalties being called.
• Norwich led in faceoffs 49-28.
• Norwich blocked 10 shots and the Huskies blocked eight. Senior Nick Nault (Goffstown, N.H) and sophomore Conor Donovan (Nahant, Mass./Swampscott) each blocked two for Southern Maine.
• The Huskies have now upset three nationally-ranked teams this season.

 
Up Next:
The No. 7 seed Huskies will take on top seed Hobart College, the defending NEHC and NCAA Champions next Saturday at Hobart. Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm.