It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
At least it is for Norwich under first-year coach Cam Ellsworth.
The third-seeded Cadets (20-5-2) advanced to yet another NEHC championship game by beating third-seeded Babson, 5-3, in Saturday’s semifinals at Kreitzberg Arena. Junior Taeron Lewis and freshman Brett Ouderkirk each had a goal and an assist to lead the offense, while co-Player of the Year in the league Tom Aubrun made 28 saves.
After starting the season 6-4-1 and dropping out of the national rankings, Norwich has gone 16 games without a loss, a streak that includes 12 straight wins.
Even better, top-seeded UMass-Boston’s 4-0 loss to No. 4 Hobart means that, once again, the Cadets will host the NEHC final. The game is Saturday at 7 p.m..
Norwich couldn’t send longtime coach Mike McShane (Wakefield, Mass.) out with a league championship a year ago, but now will try to do it for Ellsworth, his successor. It beat Hobart in both regular-season meetings, 3-1 and 4-2.
The first period against Babson featured fireworks for scoring, with the two teams combining for five goals in a back-and-forth opening stanza.
Lewis opened the scoring just 91 seconds into the game on redirection of an Ouderkirk pass from the left wing. Babson answered on a Ryan Black (Pomfret, Conn.) goal. Again the Cadets went ahead, courtesy of Scott Swanson. Again the Beavers equalized, with Matt Wiesner scoring on a rebound.
Ouderkirk capped the wild first period scoring with his team-leading 14th goal of the season off a pass from Lewis with 29 seconds left in the frame. The goal would give the Cadets a 3-2 lead that they’d hold for the rest of the game.
And check out this stat -- five players has hit the 20-point mark this season for Norwich. All five -- Ouderkirk, Felix Brassard, Coby Downs, Gabriel Chicoine and Maxime Borduas -- are freshmen or sophomores.
Hobart (19-6-2) defeated Norwich, 3-0, in last year's title game at Kreitzberg Arena to win the league in its first year in it. Even if history repeats, the Cadets should be in good shape for an NCAA at-large bid, currently sitting No. 3 in the PairWise Rankings.
Team of the Week
Salem State
After a sixth-place finish in the regular season, the Vikings (10-16-1) will get a chance to play for a MASCAC championship after winning two playoff games on the road.
Salem State upended hird-seeded UMass-Dartmouth, 4-3, getting two goals from Joe Smith (Holbrook, Mass.) and three assists from Ryan Tierney (Methuen, Mass.). In Tuesday’s semifinal at second-seeded Westfield State, Trevor Mallett (York, Maine) scored two goals to help build a 3-0 lead, and Smith sealed the 5-2 win with a pair of empty-netters.
The Vikings play at top-seeded Plymouth State on Saturday for the league title and auto-bid to the NCAA tournament. Matt Volonnino scored twice during a five-goal second period as the Panthers (16-7-3) blasted Worcester State, 6-1, in their semifinal.
Plymouth beat Salem in all three of their regular-season meetings: 8-1, 4-1 and 5-4.
Player of the Week
Blake Wojtala, sr., G, Salve Regina
Goals weren’t easy to come by in the Commonwealth Coast semifinals on Saturday, and Wojtala was one reason why. His 38 saves helped top-seeded Salve down fifth-seeded Endicott, 1-0, and earn him his program-record 11th career shutout.
The Seahawks (18-6-2) will play for a league title and NCAA auto-bid when they host third-seeded University of New England (19-6-2) on Saturday (7 p.m.). UNE outlasted second-seeded Curry, 2-1, in its semifinal.
Games to Watch
NESCAC semifinals, Saturday, at Trinity College: No. 1 Trinity vs. No. 4 Hamilton, 1 p.m.; No. 2 Wesleyan vs. No. 3 Amherst, 4:30 p.m.
The top four seeds took care of business in Saturday’s quarterfinals, setting up a championship weekend that should feature some great matchups.
No team is hotter than Trinity (17-3-5), which got an 18-save shutout from Tedy Loughborough (Wellesley Hills, Mass.) in a 3-0 quarterfinal win over No. 8 Tufts. It brings a 14-game unbeaten streak into its tilt with the Continentals.
Amherst had the most impressive quarterfinal performance, with PJ Conlon’s first-period goal and assist setting the tone for a 5-0 blanking of No. 6 Colby. Wesleyan heads into battle behind goalie Tim Sestak (Darien, Conn.), the recently-crowned Player of the Year in the NESCAC.
The championship game will be played Sunday (2 p.m.).
