Norwich downs Trinity 4-1 in NCAA D-III Men's Hockey Title 3/26/17

Norwich (27-1-3) frosh Todd Jackson took a pass at his own blueline, used the dashers to beat Trinity(21-7-3)'s Liam Feeney, and raced down the right wing for a 2-1 lead and what proved to be the game winner 8:07 into the second. The Cadets added two goals in the third, including an empty netter, to seal their fourth national title in a matchup of two members of the  old ECAC-Northeast/NESCAC interlock.

The Cadets end the season with only one loss, the first DIII men's hockey team to do so since 2010 when Norwich had last won a title before this one. The Cadets ended both NESCAC teams to make the tournament's season having disposed of Hamilton in the Quarterfinals.

Bottom line this was a good Norwich team, one that featured William Pelletier, who posted seven points (4-3-7) in eight AHL games for the Rockford Ice Hogs after completing his college career with the empty netter to seal the Cadets' championship. As Trinity coach Matt Greason said after the game, "All the cliches that hockey coaches uses that they want their team to be, that's what Norwich is."

As for his team, Greason was not disappointed by their effort or focus in the game as opposed to the semi win over St. Norbert. "The only thing different is we didn't put the puck in the net."

The Bantams were not without their chances, outshooting the Cadets 36-35 for the game. The lone Bantam tally came on the power play 5:04 into the second period, less than four minutes after Norwich had scored the first goal of the game. Feeney sent a crisp feed from the point down to Tyler Whitney, he of three assists in the semis fame, who redirected it past Ty Reichenbach for the equalizer. Norwich coach Mike McShane said that Reichenbach "stood on his head" to keep the Cadets in the game in the second.

Special congrats goes out to the senior class (Sean Orlando, Ethan Holdaway, Will Sleeper, TJ Sherman, Sam Johnson, Ryan Cole and Brandon Cole), which Greason called the best in the history of the college. The seven man class of '17 made three NCAA Tournaments (15, 16, 17) in which they went 7-2, won two NESCAC titles (16 and 17), finished first in the NESCAC regular season standings twice (14 and 15), made two DIII Frozen Fours (15 and 17) and won the program's first ever NCAA men's hockey title (15).

In addition, Ryan Cole (59-84-143) and Orlando (64-67-131) joined the 100 point club during their time in Hartford.

It's been a great last few years for the NESCAC with the Cac going 10-5 in the last three NCAA tournaments, including three Frozen Four appearances (Trinity twice and Amherst 15) and four teams making and winning a tournament game (Hamilton 17 and Williams 16 in addition to Trinity and Amherst).