NORTHFIELD, Vt. - Tyler Seidel (Centreville, Md.) logged a hat trick in the opening period and helped the Norwich Univeristy men's lacrosse team build an insurmountable lead in a marquee Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) showdown, as the Cadets handed the JWU (Providence) Wildcats their first loss of the season in a 10-6 win for Norwich on Sabine Field on Saturday afternoon.

Drew Fleury (Nashua, N.H.) led all scorers in the contest, tallying four goals and posting a hat trick before the halftime intermission.  Seidel finished with three goals, including a pair to spur the Cadet offense within the first five minutes of the game.  Mitchell McKay (Lynnfield, Mass.) and Thomas Muraski (Keller, Texas) rounded out Norwich's output with two and one, respectively.

Seidel struck first less than a minute into the contest off a feed from Duncan Youngclaus (Middleboro, Mass.), before McKay connected with Seidel about three minutes later to continue Norwich's offensive onslaught.  Less than a minute after Seidel's second, he found Fleury for the Cadets' third-straight tally.

The Wildcats got one back before Seidel and McKay notched back-to-back man-up goals to close the first and open the second to extend the Cadet advantage to four.  JWU again whittled the lead down off a pair of goals, bringing Norwich's edge down to two, but a momentum-shifting score from Muraski off a face-off kicked off a five-goal run by the hosts.

Fleury located the back of the net twice after Muraski, giving the Cadets an 8-3 advantage at the break before McKay and Fleury provided two more scores to push Norwich into the double-digit plateau.

JWU's defense kept Norwich at bay throughout the fourth, amassing three-straight tallies between the third and fourth frames, but Norwich's defense also proved vicious, holding the Wildcats' rally down en route to securing the 10-6 victory.

The Cadets finished a near-perfect 18-20 on clear attempts and converted successfully on a pair of extra man opportunities.

The hosts hauled in 40 ground balls, with Muraski securing eight of those.  Muraski also claimed 14 face off victories.

Four different Cadets generated two turnovers apiece, as McKay, Mason McMahon (Norwich, Conn.), Jack Haley (Falkville, Ala.), and Clayton Cisar (Aberdeen, Md.) served as the anchors of a Cadet defense that forced 14 JWU turnovers.

The Cadets, who continue to sit atop the GNAC's North Division and now own a win over the top team in the South Division, will hit the road for a pair of North Divisional bouts.  First up is New England College on Wednesday, Apr. 17, at 6:00 p.m., followed by a trip to Rivier University on Saturday, Apr. 20.