Box Score

NORTHFIELD, Vt. -- Reigning national champion Norwich University opened defense of its title with an 8-0 victory over the University of New England in an ECAC East men's ice hockey mutual-opener played before a crowd of 1,676 at Kreitzberg Arena Friday evening.

Sophomore Scott Schroeder (Boucherville, Quebec) and first-year Travis Jenke (Moose Jaw, Saskatchwan) finished with two goals apiece to lead Norwich.

Despite controlling play in their offensive end for the majority of the first period, the nation's top-ranked team was unable to find the back of the cage until junior Tim Houston (North Andover, Mass.) converted on the power play at 11:09 to make the score 1-0. The Cadets doubled their advantage a little more than three minutes later when Schroeder poked home a rebound.

Norwich opened things up in the middle period, scoring two of its three goals on the power play. Schroeder notched his second marker to push the score to 3-0, then first-year Frank Gatien (Boucherville, Quebec) junior Pasha Kozhokin (Kharkiv, Ukraine) went back-to-back in extra-man situations.

Janke tacked on a pair of goals in the third, and first-year Chris Duszynski (Okotoks, Alberta) completed the scoring with just under five minutes to play.

UNE senior goaltender Mike Roper (New Glasgow, Nova Scotia) saw a total of 55 shots, turning aside 47 in a strong effort between the pipes.

The Cadets took just one penalty the entire night while converting 3 of 9 power-play opportunities.

Sophomore Alex Dubois (Sherbrooke, Quebec) needed nine stops to register his third career victory for Norwich (1-0), which hosts the University of Southern Maine tomorrow.

UNE (0-1) plays at 4 p.m. road game at Saint Michael's College Saturday.