NORTHFIELD, Vt.— No. 11-ranked Norwich University scored twice in a span of 33 seconds late in the second period to break a 1-1 deadlock and the Cadets went on to post a 4-1 victory over Babson College in New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) men's hockey action Saturday afternoon inside Kreitzberg Arena.

With the loss, Babson had a two-game winning streak snapped and dropped to 8-6-2 overall and 6-2-1 in the NEHC while Norwich improved to 8-4-2 overall and 5-2-2 in league play.

Sophomore Danny Cavanagh (Warwick, R.I.) scored the lone goal for the Beavers, with assists from first-year Sean Senier (Melrose, Mass.) and sophomore Nolan Woudenberg (Collegeville, Pa.). Sophomore Nate Mueller (Rogers, Minn.) made 29 saves in goal but took the loss.

Juniors Paul Schmid (Linz, Austria), Alex Lewis (Moncton, New Brunswick), Bryan O'Mara (Syracuse, N.Y. ) and Patrick Del Vecchi (Mississauga, Ont.) all tallied a goal and an assist for the Cadets, and first-years Zach Ophoven (Burlington, Ont.) and Cooper Bertrand (Caledon, Ont.) and sophomore Johnny Johnson (Naperville, Ill.) collected assists. First-year Sami Molu (Toronto, Ont.) made 23 saves in goal to record the win in goal for the hosts.

The teams traded goals in the opening frame. Del Vecchio intercepted a Babson clear in the left circle, slid a pass across to Schmid at the far post and Schmid buried his fifth goal of the season at 4:59. The Beavers answered six minutes later when Cavanagh and Senier worked a give-and-go along the left boards before Cananagh snapped a shot through Molu's pads for his first goal of the season at 10:58.

The 1-1 scored lasted the rest of the first period and the first 15 minutes of the second frame before Norwich capitalized. O'Mara intercepted a Babson clearing attempt at the blue line before feeding Lewis at the edge of the right circle, and Lewis ripped a one-timer into the right side of the net for his first of the season at 14:59. Moments later, the Cadets won a battle along the boards below the goal line on the left side and when the puck came out to O'Mara in the slot, he snapped a shot inside the right post for his eighth of the season at 15:32.

The Cadets tacked on an insurance goal at 4:26 of the third period after Schmid won a face-off back to Bertrand at the right point, who slid a pass over to Del Vecchio at the top of the left circle, and Del Vecchio fired a low shot past Mueller for his second of the season.

Only three penalties were called in the game, all in the third period, and none led to a goal. Norwich had the first chance at 7:21 and Babson came up empty twice in the final six minutes, managing just one shot on each attempt. Norwich finished with a 33-24 advantage in shots on goal for the game.

Babson will back in action next Saturday with an NEHC contest at Southern Maine while Norwich will be home again on Friday against No. 3 Elmira.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 28-48-8 all-time against Norwich in a series that dates back to the 1975-76 campaign.
• Cavanagh became the 17th different player to score a goal for Babson this season.
• The Green and White dropped to 2-3-0 this season against nationally-ranked teams.