Men’s Hockey: Norwich Downs Plattsburgh, 5-1

Courtesy Norwich Sports Information

NORTHFIELD –– The Norwich University men’s ice hockey team scored five unanswered goals to sweep the season series from Plattsburgh State by identical 5-1 scores on Tuesday night in non-conference action at Kreitzberg Arena.

Norwich (10-2-1, 6-1-0 NEHC) won its fourth straight game vs. its Lake Champlain rival and improved to 33-23-6 in the all-time series with Plattsburgh.

Sophomore forward Brett Ouderkirk (Monkland, Ontario) scored a goal and had an assist, while junior defenseman Connor Swystun (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) and senior defenseman Josh Cronin (Langley, British Columbia) each had two assists to lead the offense.

Senior goalie Tom Aubrun (Chamonix, France) made 28 saves on 29 shots to earn his 10th victory of the season.

Plattsburgh State (4-8-1) opened the scoring at the 14:25 mark of the first period with Joe Drabin sniping a wrist shot over the shoulder of Aubrun, short side off assists from Lawson Fenton and Andrew Pizzo to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.

The lead would be short-lived though as Norwich answered back at the 16:03 mark with Jordan Hall (Anchorage, Alaska) scoring on a rebound after Cronin’s initial shot sailed high off the glass and bounced back out front allowing Hall to slam it home. Ouderkirk picked up the second assist.

The Cadets took their first lead of the game at the 2:42 mark of the second period with Scott Swanson ripping a shot past Fenton off assists from Braedyn Aubin (Woodstock, Ontario) and Michael Korol (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan).

Ouderkirk scored his third goal in as many games with a power play tally at the 6:46 mark with a shot through traffic from the high slot that found its way past Fenton. Swystun and Taeron Lewis (Winnipeg, Manitoba) notched the assists.

Chicoine scored his second goal of the season with a slap shot into the top corner of the net off assists from Matt Burchill (Marshfield, Mass.) and Felix Brassard (St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec).

Ryan Boucher (Fitchburg, Mass.) capped the scoring with his fifth goal of the year at the 2:31 mark of the third period with a short-handed goal off assists from Swystun and Cronin.

Norwich outshot Plattsburgh 32-29 and went for 1-for-4 on the power play, while Plattsburgh was 0-for-4.

Norwich will travel to Suffolk and Johnson & Wales this weekend to resume NEHC play with games at 7 p.m. on Friday night and 4 p.m. on Saturday respectively. The Cadets will take on Middlebury on Tuesday, Jan. 14 in its final non-conference game of the regular season at Kreitzberg Arena.