Pier-Oliver Cotnoir (center) of Norwich goes airborne just a split second after he beat UNE (University of New England) goalie Dallas Ungurian to put the Ice Cadets up 2-0 in the first period of last Saturday's ECAC-East quarter-final at Kreitzberg. This goal proved to be the game winner as top seeded Norwich rolled over the Nor'easters 8-1. Norwich will host the Semi-finals and finals this weekend. Photo by Bill Croney, The Northfield News The No. 1-ranked Norwich University men's ice hockey team opened play in the 2010 ECAC East Tournament with a convincing 8-1 victory over University of New England in a quarterfinal contest Saturday evening at Kreitzberg Arena.

The top-seeded Cadets, who improve to 21-1-4 on the season, advance to the tournament’s championship weekend, which they will host next weekend (March 5-6). Norwich will entertain sixth-seeded New England College on Friday, March 5, in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. The second semifinal contest will feature second-seeded Babson College and fifth-seeded Skidmore College at 7 p.m.

The eighth-seeded Nor’easters end their inaugural season as a member of the ECAC East with an overall record of 3-22-0.

Norwich wasted little time jumping on UNE as senior F Craig Serino scored his fifth goal of the season off an assist from sophomore D Owen Carpino at the 5:12 mark of the first period. Carpino started the play when he skated behind the Nor’easters’ cage. He then slid a pass out in front of the net, and Serino rammed the puck home from close range.

University of New England tied the score at 1-1 at the 8:37 mark of the first period when Tyler Fleurent tipped a blue line blast by Kyle MacLennan past Norwich senior G Ryan Klingensmith. MacLennan was set up near the center of the blue line and his laser of a shot was deftly deflected past Klingensmith for Fleurent for his fifth marker of the year.

Norwich responded just 12 seconds later when freshman F Matt McCann slipped a pass to freshman F Pier-Oliver Cotnoir, who skated in all alone and beat UNE goaltender Dallas Ungurian for his 10th goal of the season. Sophomore F Tim Houston took the faceoff following UNE’s goal and McCann skated the puck up along the right-side boards before feeding Cotnoir in the slot area. Cotnoir then made a couple of dekes to get Ungurian out of position before sliding the puck past him.

The Cadets extended their lead to 3-1 later in the first period when freshman F Kyle Thomas netted his first goal of the evening off assists from freshman F Blake Forkey and junior F Chad Anderson. Thomas corralled the puck in the left-hand faceoff circle and snapped off a wrist shot that deflected off a UNE defender and past Ungurian.

Norwich held a 14-8 edge in shots during the opening 20 minutes, and the Cadets took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.

The Cadets broke the game wide open with two goals in a span of 40 seconds midway through the second period. Anderson struck first on the power play when he banged home a rebound from just outside the crease at the 11:08 mark. Forkey and Thomas were credited with assists on the marker, which was Anderson’s 12th of the year. Senior F D.J. Fimiani scored just 40 seconds later when he took a pretty feed from Serino and scored his seventh goal of the campaign at the 11:48 mark. Serino had the puck behind the UNE cage and slipped a pass to Fimiani in the righthand faceoff circle as he was falling to the ice. Fimiani wasted little time beating Ungurian to make it 5-1.

Norwich enjoyed a 13-5 margin in shots in the second period, and the Cadets skated into the second intermission with a comfortable 5-1 advantage.

The Cadets continued to pile up the goals in the third period, scoring three more times to account for the final margin. Senior D Tyler Stitt got things started just 37 seconds into the frame when he scored his first goal of the season off a pass from Forkey. There was a scramble in front of the net following a couple of shots that were saved by Ungurian. Forkey was able to find the puck, and he fed Stitt in the slot area. The team captain then ripped a high shot into the goal to make it 6-1 in favor of the Cadets.

Freshman F Tory Allen was the next Norwich forward to get into the scoring column, potting his seventh marker of the season at the 9:53 mark of the period. Freshman F Steven Schroeder started the play with a long upice pass to his twin brother freshman F Scott Schroeder, who zipped a pass onto Allen stick right in front of the net for the goal.

Thomas closed the scoring when he scored on a breakaway. Forkey and Anderson picked up assists on the goal as they were able to find Thomas streaking in behind the UNE defense. Thomas made a nice individual move on Ungurian before putting the puck behind him for his teamleading 22nd goal of the season.

Klingensmith finished with 14 saves to pick up his 19th victory of the season between the pipes for the Cadets. Freshman G Alex Dubois came on to play the final 7:57 and stopped all four shots that he faced. Ungurian made 37 saves for the Nor’easters in the loss.

Norwich went 1-for-5 on the power play, while UNE was 0-for- 3 with the extra skater.

Since suffering their first and only loss of the season, the Cadets have outscored their last five opponents by a combined score of 32-8. Norwich is now just two victories away from its eighth ECAC East Tournament title the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.