SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Junior forward Travis Janke (Swift Current, Sask.) scored two goals and added two assists to lead the Norwich University men's ice hockey team to a 7-3 win over Skidmore College on Friday night at the Saratoga Springs Ice Rink in Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) East action.
With the victory, the Cadets (8-0-0, 6-0-0 ECAC East) avenged one of just two regular season losses from last year as they fell 3-2 to the Thoroughbreds at Skidmore.
Janke's four-point night leaves him just seven points short of becoming the 47th player in Norwich men's hockey history to record 100-career points.
After Norwich led 3-1 heading into the first intermission, Skidmore scored two goals 12 seconds apart from David Limoges and Dave Dupuis to tie the game up at three.
However, it was all Norwich from there as senior forward Kyle Thomas (Waltham, Mass.) scored on a 2-on-1 rush off a pass from junior forward Chris Duszynski (Okotoks, Alberta) to spark four straight tallies by the Cadets to pull away for the 7-3 win.
Skidmore (4-3-2, 3-3-1 ECAC East) opened the scoring just 1:02 into the game when Ondrej Krajnak tipped an initial shot from Erik Nilsson past NU sophomore starting goalie Matic Marinsek (Ljubljana, Slovenia) to give the Thoroughbreds a 1-0 lead.
Norwich battled back though with two goals 1:17 apart just past the midway point of the period by Janke and Ben Morgan (Calgary, Alberta). Janke scored off a rebound after Skidmore starting goalie Spencer Sodokoff stopped Tory Allan's (Davidson, Sask.) initial shot. Colin Mulvey (Worcester, Mass.) also picked up an assist on the goal.
Morgan notched his first collegiate goal at the 13:46 mark with a pretty backhand to beat Sodokoff to his right after circling into the low slot from behind the net after receiving a pass from Dean Niezgoda (Brewster, Mass.). Shane Gorman (Trumbull, Conn.) had the second assist on the goal.
Senior captain Pier-Olivier Cotnoir (Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec) took over the team lead with his eighth goal of the season just moments after a power play expired with a rocket blast from the point off an assist from Janke. Sophomore defenseman Bryce Currier (Essex Junction, Vt.) also notched an assist on the goal at 16:25 of the first period.
Skidmore responded with two goals coming at the 2:44 and 2:56 marks of the second period to knot the score again at three. Limoges tipped a shot through Marinsek's five-hole off an initial shot from Nilsson. Just 12 seconds later Dupuis beat Marinsek to the glove side into the right upper corner of the net.
Thomas gave NU the lead for good but Cotnoir tallied his ninth goal of the season with a picturesque backhand to beat Skidmore's Brad Cray five-hole. Cotnoir deked and faked a shot on his forehand before flipping the puck over to his backhand to open up the five-hole and then he slid the puck through Cray's pads to make it 5-3.
Janke extended the lead to 6-3 with a highlight reel goal after he batted a puck out of midair, corralled it and slid the puck into a wide open net after Allan's tip attempt sailed wide of the net.
Niezgoda capped the scoring with his first collegiate goal in the Maroon & Gold by wristing the puck off the right post and into the back of the net while shorthanded off assists from Janke and Thieda.
Marinsek stopped 13 shots to improve to 4-0-0 on the year. Sodokoff made 10 saves and gave up three goals before being pulled and took the loss for the Thoroughbreds. Cray made 20 saves in relief.
Norwich continues its three-game road trip to close the first semester tomorrow afternoon at 4 p.m. when it takes on rival Castleton State in the Battle of Vermont at Spartan Arena. Last year, NU went 3-0 against Castleton, including a 7-5 win in the regular season at Castleton and then an 11-1 win in the ECAC East championship game.
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