For Immediate Release
Contact Dave Geringer, Sports Information Director, (508) 990-9651  [log in to unmask]
Friday, January 4, 2008					

HOCKEY TEAM FALLS AT NORWICH, 4-2

NORTHFIELD, VT– Eleventh-ranked Norwich scored the first three goals of the game and then held off the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth’s hockey team, 4-2, in a first round game at the Times-Argus Invitational at Kreitzberg Arena Friday evening.

The Corsairs had reduced a 3-0 deficit to a single goal in the third period when freshman forward Billy Manning (Stoughton, MA/Bridgewater Jr. Bandits) and junior forward Chris Shore (West Haven. CT/Winchendon Academy) were whistled for penalties 51 seconds apart. Eric Lauriault of the Cadets picked up a loose puck in the slot and fired it home to give NU a 4-2 advantage with 6:13 remaining.

UMass Dartmouth got on the score sheet when senior defenseman Tyler Crocker (Wakefield, MA/Wakefield HS) scored a power play goal at 14:37 of the second period. Freshman defenseman Mickey Dudley (Douglas, MA/Boston Jr. Bruins) and senior forward Jeff Grant (Burlington, MA/Austin Prep) assisted. Junior forward Peter Shelzi (Belmont, MA/Connecticut AHA) made it 3-2 less than three minutes later when he slipped a rebound of Crocker’s shot past NU goalie David Thompson. Sophomore forward Billy Carroll (Duxbury, MA/Bridgton Academy) also assisted.

Chad Anderson put the Cadets on the scoreboard at 2:01 of the first period, intercepting a clearing pass from Corsair junior goaltender Jeff Green (Medway, MA/Valley Jr. Warriors) and scoring unassisted to make it 1-0. Rico Piatelli made it 2-0 when he scored at 3:31, and Jim Kohler’s goal at 12:43 of the second period gave Norwich a 3-0 advantage and set the stage for the UMass Dartmouth rally.

The Corsairs, who converted one of four power play opportunities while stopping Norwich on two of three tries, were out shot by the Cadets, 33-24. Green made 29 saves, while Thompson stopped 22 shots.

UMass Dartmouth dropped to 5-3-1 with the defeat, while the Cadets improved to 7-2 with the victory. Babson defeated St. Olaf in the tournament opener, 4-3. The Corsairs will play St. Olaf for third place Saturday at 4 p.m. Host Norwich will play Babson for the championship Saturday at 7 p.m.
 
UMASS DARTMOUTH HOCKEY

 UMass Dartmouth (5-3-1) vs. Norwich University (7-2-0)
 Date: 1/4/08        Location: Northfield, VT        Arena: Kreitzberg Arena
 Attendance:1785   Start time:7:00 pm   End time:9:05 pm   Total time:2:05

Goals by Period       1  2  3  Tot
 ----------------------------------
 UMass Dartmouth.....  0  2  0 -  2
 Norwich Univ........  2  1  1 -  4

   1st period - 1, NOR, Anderson, Chad 2:05. 2, NOR, Piatelli, Rico
(Gaudreau, Adam) 3:31. Penalties – None.

   2nd period - 3, NOR, Koehler, Jim (Fimiani, DJ) 12:43. 4, UMDM,
Tyler Crocker (Mickey Dudley, Jeff Grant) 14:37 (pp). 5, UMDM, Peter
Shelzi (Billy Carroll, Tyler Crocker) 17:18. Penalties - Gaudreau,
Adam, NOR (interference) 14:00; Gaudreau, Adam, NOR (cross-checking)
18:11.

   3rd period - 6, NOR, Lauriault, Eric (Messier, Sylvain, Tallent,
Eric) 13:47 (pp). Penalties - DelGallo, Nick, NOR (hooking) 7:18;
Billy Manning, UMDM (slashing) 11:50; Chris Shore, UMDM (tripping)
12:41; DelGallo, Nick, NOR (charging) 16:11; Peter Shelzi, UMDM
(charging) 19:21.

   Shots on goal - UMDM 6-13-5 24; NOR 16-8-9 33.

   Power plays - UMDM 1 of 4; NOR 1 of 3.

   Penalties - UMDM 3 (6 min); NOR 4 (8 min).

   Goalies - UMDM, Jeff Green 5-3-1 (60:00 minutes, 33 shots-29
saves); NOR, Thompson, David 6-1-0 (60:00, 24-22).

   A-1785  T-2:05