NORTHFIELD - Norwich spotted Castleton State a shorthanded goal and then
scored six unanswered goals to record their 19th victory and improve
their ECAC East record to 14-1 on Friday night.

Castleton's leading scorer, Josh Harris, broke in for the shorthanded
goal, his 14th at 5:07, after Norwich misplayed the puck up top on the
power play.

The Cadets' first shot on goal came at 7:00. Two minutes later, Erik
Lyrvall tested Spartan goalie Erick Cinotti and two minutes after that,
Kyle Thomas tied the game 1-all.

Blake Forkey's shot from the left circle bounced off Cinotti's blocker
and dropped at Thomas' feet as he was passing across the top of the
crease - one sweep of the stick and Thomas had his ninth goal of the
season. Chris Duszynski and Forkey were credited with assists.

Norwich took the lead on a memorable scoring play that began by Colin
Mulvey's effort to keep a loose puck alive. He was rewarded seconds
later when Tory Allan held the puck while swerving out to the top of the
slot and feeding back across the grain for Mulvey's team-leading 16th
goal at 15:48 of the second period.

Dean Niezgoda struck next for Norwich at 13:56. The , Mass., picked the
puck out of a four-man pile-up in front of the net and flipped it in.

Shane Gorman and captain Pier-Olivier Cotnoir, making his return after
missing seven games with a shoulder injury, drew the assists.

Niezgoda was pleased to have Cotnoir on his line. "That was great. I'm
all for that," he said. "We wanted to build off Thomas' goal. They were
coming at us real hard in that first period and that's tough to do for a
whole game."

Norwich upped the pressure and contested loose pucks harder as the game
wore on. The Cadets had power plays which weren't productive, but kept
scoring anyway.

Forkey, a senior, scored the fourth goal off a rebound of Duszynski's
wraparound attempt at 6:41 of the third period. Forkey had two swipes at
the puck and Cinotti went down on the first one.

Niezgoda and Cotnoir set up a goal for Shane Gorman at 7:43. Norwich
goalie Chris Czarnota (14 saves) stopped Spartan Ross Herzog's
close-range shot just as the Cadets' fourth power play ended.

Kyle Thomas finished the scoring off a pinpoint, two-line pass from
Gorman in the final minute.

"That first goal woke us up," Thomas said. "We want to start playing
playoff hockey."

"They checked us hard and we were a little sloppy and did some watching
and waiting in the first period," Cadets coach Mike McShane said. "We
had more discipline as the game went on. I think the third goal was a
big goal for us. Tomorrow's a totally different day. It's tough to win
back-to-back games with a quick turnaround. I'm sure Skidmore will come
after us."

The Cadets and Thoroughbreds will face off here at Kreitzberg Arena
Saturday at 4 p.m.

Norwich will begin the day with a 19-2 record overall. Castleton State
now stands at 13-8-2 and 8-7-1 in the ECAC East.