Two years ago, David Robertson watched as the seniors on the Norwich University hockey team enjoyed the best sendoff ever.
He watched the captains -- senior forwards Tyler Piacentini (South Weymouth, Mass.), Austin Surowiec and William Pelletier -- lead the team to a 27-1-3 season, one that culminated with a Division 3 championship.
A perfect ending.
As the lone senior captain on this year’s edition -- and the only senior regular in the lineup for first-year coach Cam Ellsworth -- he was hoping for a similar farewell. But that seemed unrealistic, almost to the point of absurd, as the Cadets limped into the holidays with a record of 6-5-1, absent from the national rankings.
That’s what made the next three months all the more amazing.
Norwich isn’t celebrating a fifth national championship this week. After rallying from two goals down in the third period Saturday to tie top-seeded and host Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the national title game, the third-ranked Cadets fell in overtime, 3-2.
It was a harsh end to a remarkable turnaround. Robertson, a defenseman from Manitoba, won’t leave the program with another title, but will skate away with his head held high.
“Really proud of the group for what we accomplished this year,” he said. “Pretty much everyone wrote us off at Christmastime. Being able to do what we did, losing in the national championship game in overtime, it says a lot about the guys we have.”
It was the first loss for Norwich (23-5-3) since Dec. 8, and ended what had grown into a 19-game unbeaten streak, one that included three victories to capture the tournament title in the NEHC, and then NCAA wins over No. 12 University of New England (2-1 in the quarterfinals) and No. 2 Geneseo (4-2 in the semis).
Like the season itself, the Cadets were fighting from behind. Playing in its home rink, K.B. Willett Arena, which was filled to capacity with 1,419 fans, Stevens Point scored twice in the opening five minutes of the third period to take a 2-0 lead.
Back came Norwich. Sophomore Coby Downs put back a rebound of his own shot to make it 2-1 with 13 minutes left. With just under eight minutes to go, Noah Williams sent Downs in alone on a breakaway, and his conversion knotted the game 2-2.
“We have great leadership,” said Ellsworth. “Going into the third, we made some small adjustments but really left the locker room up to the guys. I’m really proud we can do that.”
In the end, it would be Stevens Point (29-0-2), which finished with a 45-28 edge in shots, completing the first-ever unbeaten championship season in Division 3. Defenseman Steven Quagliota ended things 15 minutes into sudden-death after his team capitalized on a turnover.
But by the end of the season, this had become another tough Norwich team to play against.
Junior goalie Tom Aubrun enjoyed a stellar year after winning the starting job early on, posting a 1.70 goals-against average and .929 save percentage, and the team ranked third in the nation in team defense (1.62 goals allowed per game).
Up front, fans got introduced to a new generation of fast forwards. Sophomores Felix Brassard (11-18-29) and Downs (9-19-28), and freshman Brett Ouderkirk (15-13-28) were the team’s leading scorers.
“The guys are awesome,” said Roberston. “‘I loved coming to the rink every day. Being the oldest guy on the team, they kept me young. It was a ton of fun.“
Norwich was one of five New England-based programs selected for the 12-team national tournament. Conference champions UNE (Commonwealth Coast), Trinity (NESCAC) and Plymouth State (MASCAC) earned spots, while UMass-Boston received an at-large bid.
And, while they came up one goal short of the ultimate prize, the future looks bright for the Cadets. Robertson and defenseman Cam Beecy (Stowe, Vt.), who played in just nine games, were the only seniors.
“My sophomore year, when we sent out the seniors with a national championship, that’s what you’d like to do,” said Robertson. “When it comes your turn that’s what you want.
“We were right there. We got as close as you can get.”
