Cadets defeat Middlebury

Men's hockey team advances to the NCAA Division III Championship with a 5-2 victory over the Middlebury Panthers, but falls to defeat against the University of Wisconsin-Superior 3-2 in overtime

By Amanda Tracy
Norwich Guidon Managing Editor

It was pretty difficult to keep the promise I made to Brad Nadeau while I was watching Norwich play Middlebury in Kenyon Arena at Middlebury College on Friday, Mar. 15.
Nadeau, the Athletic Communications Director for Middlebury College, was clamoring to put together a list of reporters who had survived the cut from the NCAA's press pass list to procure a spot in the coveted press booth for the NCAA Frozen Four.

I had called him with 15 minutes to spare before his deadline, undoubtedly making a marvelous first impression, and his main concern at the time was finding a tactful way to condense the list of reporters to meet his strict space requirements in the press area. I had to make the cut among many professional reporters to get an official pass to cover the game. In return, I had to promise to remain objective, and observe all rules for professional pressroom decorum.

I'm glad he let me in, but it was hard to keep my promise.

After all, Norwich was in the final rounds of the NCAA playoffs for the second time in my college career. And we, …I mean they, were battling long-time rivals, the Middlebury Panthers, in the semifinal game for a shot at the NCAA Championship.

This year was, by many critics, not expected to be as fruitful as recent years for the Cadets. Coming from a loss last year to New England College in the ECAC East Championship with six freshmen, 10 sophomores, and only four seniors, many hockey followers called the 2001-2002 season a "rebuilding year" for Coach McShane.

Things were also looking grim for the Cadets because they spent much of the season overcoming injuries. Chris Petracco, a sophomore sports medicine major from Weston, Ont.; Jon Bokelmann, a junior physical education major from Centerport, N.Y.; Matt Moran, a senior criminal justice major from Brighton, Mass.; Brian Mullally, a freshman business management major from Maynard, Mass.; Lou Demasi, a sophomore business major from Burlington, Vt.; and Tim Kyrkostas, a senior communications major from Hicksville, N.Y. all either missed significant playing time or played hurt this season. Lynn Beedle, a senior criminal justice major from Bethlehem, Penn., spent the season out battling cancer, as well.

Things weren't all bad for the Cadets. While Norwich started the season young, three of the top five scorers are freshmen: Kurtis McLean (27-21-48) and Vadim Beliaev (14-28-42) are first and second on the list, sophomores Phil Aucoin take third (16-25-41) and fourth (21-16-37), and freshman Paul Metucci (10-24-34) takes fifth.

Youth didn't seem to be a problem in the net this season, either. Kevin Schieve started 20 games this season with a 16-4 record in the net.

A mid-season slump cost the Cadets three of four games beginning in mid-January with a 1-4 loss to Trinity, and ruined an as-yet undefeated season. The team eventually righted themselves, winning the ECAC East Title and two convincing victories over Bowdoin (3-0, 7-0) in the NCAA Quarterfinals.

The Middlebury Panthers weren't having such a bad season, either. They entered the NCAA Semifinals with a 26-1-1 record, their only loss coming from a 5-1 defeat at the hands of Norwich University in the Primelink Great Northern Shootout in November. The next match up between the Cadets and Panthers bore a 1-3 Norwich loss. Norwich entered the NCAA Semifinal game ranked third, with Middlebury as the top-seed.

Norwich hardly looked the underdog at Kenyon arena on Friday night. They didn't sound like the underdog, either. After a glance through the crowd, it seemed that every Middlebury Panther fan in blue and white had a matching Norwich fan. As the Middlebury team took the ice, half of the arena roared.

When Norwich took the ice, the other half roared back. What began after the warm-up was some of the most exciting hockey I've ever seen.

Norwich took the lead early, 31 seconds into the first period, with a goal by Ed Boudreau from a Tim Kyrkostas handoff. After skating down the left side of the Panther defensive zone, he slipped the puck past senior goaltender Christian Carlsson. A Keith Aucoin power-play goal from Kurtis McLean and Matt Schmidt at 8:07 in the first period rounded out the scoring in the first period to bring the Cadets to a 2-0 lead over Middlebury.

After two goals in less than 10 minutes into the contest, the momentum was clearly in Cadet favor. Norwich was swarming in the offensive zone.

"We just came prepared," said Beliaev. "The game started yesterday when we got to Burlington and unpacked."

Norwich scored a third time in period one, but the 15:14 goal by Dominick Dawes, a sophomore business major from Utica, N.Y., was pulled by a high-sticking call against Dawes. Clearly, the cadets were riding the momentum of their early period scoring and a forechecking strategy that Coach Mike McShane admitted had been tweaked, but he wouldn't reveal how in a post-game press conference.

"I've still got a game to play tomorrow, so I'm not saying. It worked better," said McShane.

The energy in Kenyon arena was electric. Norwich was leading their all-time rival in the NCAA Semifinal game on the opposition turf. I could feel my pulse and blood pressure rise as I tried to keep my cool in the press booth.

Norwich dominated offensively again throughout much of the second period. Matt Schmidt scored the third Norwich goal at 8:37 in the second period as a result of good teamwork and passing from Aucoin and Beliaev.

Less than a minute later, Middlebury's senior defenseman, Matt Dunn, cross-checked senior Captain Keith Maurice and earned a major five-minute penalty. The Cadets patiently measured their time and earned one of their three power-play conversions during this penalty with a goal from a rebounded Mario Chinelli shot by Boudreau at 13:34. Norwich was now up by a score of 4-0. Things were going well.

The energy began to change in the third period, however. A Middlebury goal from junior forward Rob Chisolm 13 seconds into the third period put the first goal on the board for the Panthers. From the left-hand of the offensive zone, Chisolm rolled the puck past Norwich goaltender Schieve to bring the Panthers onto the scoreboard. The momentum began to turn in Panther favor.

A Panther goal by sophomore defenseman Andrew Helming at 10:41 brought Middlebury up by two. After the game, Maurice admitted that the Cadets were "struggling a bit" in the offensive zone in the third period.

Of Middlebury's energy in the third period Middlebury Head Coach Bill Beaney said, "Our players felt like they didn't have anything to lose, and we wanted to go out playing as hard as we could."

With 2:50 left to go in the third period, Beaney pulled the goalie to give Middlebury some extra offensive support, but this proved to be an advantage for the Cadets. Norwich's Chinelli scored the final goal of the game on an empty net with 19 seconds remaining, bringing Norwich to a 5-2 victory over Middlebury.

An exhausted and quiet Coach Beanie tipped his hat to Norwich in the post-game press conference.

"I don't think we came out to play," said Middlebury coach Bill Beaney. "It is disappointing that it happened that way. We were out-coached, and we were out-played, and the better team won."

"We came out and just got beat to pucks in the first period," said Middlebury captain Ryan Constantine. "We got out-worked and out-played. They played with a good forecheck and just beat us."

Norwich was riding high into the NCAA Championship game Saturday night.

I, on the other hand, was riding nowhere. My car battery died. I had to catch the game on the radio. While it was almost as good as the real thing on WDEV FM and AM with George Commo and Bob White calling the game, I consoled myself by thinking that I at least didn't have to worry about keeping my cool in the press booth. I was really kicking myself that I couldn't be there.

Saturday night, Norwich was facing a team they'd seen the last time they went to the NCAA Championship game: the University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) Yellowjackets, coached by Dan Stauber. In the 2000 NCAA Championship, they beat the Yellowjackets by a score of 2-1. UWS would by no means be an easy opponent. They had been to the last 10 of 11 NCAA tournaments and were eager to avenge the 2000 loss to Norwich. They managed to do just that, with a 3-2 overtime win.

It was the fourth time the Yellowjackets had gone into the Frozen Four, and they had fourth, third, and second place trophies to show for it. It was the third time in four matchups between Norwich and UWS that the game had gone into overtime.

"This completes the set," said goaltender Nate Ziemski, who made 26 saves. "This is a huge monkey off our backs."

It was a crushing loss for Norwich. "In a game like this, when you lose, it's the worst thing in the world," said Schieve.

The first Norwich goal came just after midway through period one. McLean scored a power play goal 1:38 into a UWS penalty. UWS answered this 47 seconds later with a goal by senior defenseman Randy Currie from a Kris Wilson rebound to tie the score at 1-1.

The next goal on the scoreboard came from Norwich's Matt Schmidt, at 5:31. Norwich continued to dominate for the rest of the second period and much of the third, or at least it seemed that way to me as I sat glued to my radio, listening to Commo's description of the action.

Then I started screaming and wringing my hands. For a few moments I was glad I wasn't standing in the press booth.

With 1:26 remaining in regulation time, Wisconsin scored, and it wasn't pretty for a Norwich fan to hear. UWS forward Colin Kendall glanced a shot off of Norwich defenseman Jon Grabie's stick to tie the game.

"I thought I had the angle on it," said Schieve. "But one of our D-men got his stick on it. Things just didn't go our way."

Norwich and UWS went into overtime, for the third time. UWS still hadn't won an NCAA Championship after four trips to the Frozen Four. It must have been their turn.

With 23 played in overtime, UWS's Colin Kendall ended the game, and won his an NCAA Championship.

"It's the best feeling in the world," said Kendall.

The Cadets came home to Northfield with a season result of 27-5, one of the best records in Norwich history. Freshman forward Kurtis McLean was named an American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) Division III All-American. The team successfully battled through a season plagued with injuries.

And we…I mean they beat Middlebury.

With everyone coming back except Capt. Keith Maurice, Matt Moran, Tim Kyrkostas, and Ziga Ivanic, this is definitely a team for the future.

Editor's Note: WDEV Sports Director Dave Moody, and US College Hockey Online contributed to this report.

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