Box Score

NORTHFIELD, Vt. -- Trevor Fleurent scored with 0:44 remaining in overtime to give the University of New England men's ice hockey team a thrilling 4-3 win over nationally-ranked Norwich University in a New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) game played Friday (Jan. 15) in front of a crowd of 1,147 at Kreitzberg Arena.

The win was the first-ever for UNE over the Cadets after dropping the previous 13 meetings. Winners of five consecutive games and unbeaten in their last nine outings, the Nor'easters improved to 9-4-1 overall and 5-4-1 in conference play. Norwich, which is ranked 10th in one national poll and 12th in another, is 11-6-0, 6-4-0 in NEHC action. UNE's unbeaten string of nine ties them with the University of Wisconsin-River Falls as the third-longest current streak in the nation.

Fleurent took a wrist shot from just inside the blue line on the right wing that beat Norwich goalie Braeden Ostepchuk between the arm and his body and banked off the inside of the left post to send the Nor'easter bench pouring onto the ice in celebration. The goal was the culmination of a resilient effort by UNE, rallying from a pair of two-goal deficits.

Norwich took advantage of an early five-minute major power play to jump on top, picking up two goals on the extended man-advantage to take a 2-0 lead. Tyler Piacentini scored his sixth goal of the season, deflecting an initial shot from Brian Rowland past UNE goalie Mason Riley to put the Cadets up 1-0 at the 8:12 mark.
 
Justin Charbonneau made it 2-0 at the 12:02 mark of the first period with a tip into the top right corner of the net off a pass from Rowland at the point. Dean Niezgoda picked up the secondary assist after winning the face-off back to Rowland.
 
UNE got on the board short-handed just 20 seconds after Charbonneau's goal when Ben Pearl deflected a pass from the corner by Blaise Healy just under the crossbar on an odd-man rush to cut the deficit in half at 2-1.

Norwich took a two-goal lead again at the 3:25 mark of the second period with another power play goal to make it 3-1. William Pelletier rifled a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net off assists from Rowland and Connor Evangelista. 

UNE answered quickly again, scoring just 1:09 after Pelletier's goal to cut it back down to 3-2 when Dylan Bengston slipped a shot past Ty Reichenbach off assists from Fluerent and Kyle Williams. 

Brady Fleurent knotted the game at 3-3 at the 7:24 mark by poking the puck through Reichenbach's five-hole off a centering pass from his brother, Trevor. Bengston picked up the second assist.

Healy nearly won the game in regulation for UNE when his shot from the high slot rattled off the right post and slid across the goal mouth.

Riley finished with 29 stops for the Nor'easters, while Reichenbach and Ostepchuk combined to make 15 stops for the home team. Norwich was efficient on the power play, converting 3 of 7 opportunities. 

After the game, UNE first-year head coach Kevin Swallow put the win in perspective.

"I am very happy for the way our guys battled hard and had no quit," said Swallow. "This is a big step in the right direction for our program. We have proven we can play with anyone in the country, and it was great tonight to get over the hump and come away with the victory. Although we are very excited, we need to continue to work and improve every day because there is still a lot of hockey left to be played this season."

The Nor'easters have less than 24 hours off before facing St. Michael's College tomorrow at 4 p.m. at Cairns Arena in Colchester, Vt.  


(portions of the story courtesy of Norwich University)