Norwich coach reaches milestone with 4-2 win
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By PETE HARTT Staff Writer - Published: February 18, 2007
NORTHFIELD — The Norwich hockey team capped an up-and-down regular season Saturday with a big, big up.
The red-hot Cadets won their sixth straight game, secured the ECAC East regular-season championship and the home ice through the playoffs that go with it. Norwich also handed coach Mike McShane his 500th career victory with a 4-2 victory over Colby.
Of those three things, there is no question that the coach sees victory No. 500 as the least important, though it was clear from his players reaction after the game that it got at least near-equal billing in their minds.
Players skated one-by-one to the bench as the rest of the team celebrated around goaltender David Thompson to congratulate McShane, then doused him with water as he walked onto the ice to receive a granite plaque from the university.
The coach suggested he might appreciate it a little later Saturday, but at the time, it was all about the team's accomplishments.
"The most important thing is that it gave us first place," McShane said. "I'm very proud of the team and the way they responded. Colby is a good team and we couldn't get rolling."
The Cadets final regular-season game mirrored their season as they skated to 2-0 lead three minutes into the second period, gave up two goals, the second an ugly shorthanded tally, then cemented the win on two goals by freshman Craig Serino.
The contest ended with a mild melee with one minute remaining that resulted in 36 minutes in penalties, including three 10-minute misconducts.
None of it mattered once the final whistle blew.
The sister and father of former Norwich hockey player Mike Serba, who was killed in November in his hometown of Toronto, were on hand for the game and dropped the opening puck.
From there the game progressed slowly with the crowd and the offense for both teams missing in action. By the midway point Norwich had a whopping total of three shots on goal, and the Mules just two.
But the Cadets closed fast, finishing with a 12-5 advantage in shots, and took a 1-0 lead on Rick Cleaver's fifth goal in less than 24 hours. Norwich then opened the second half with some good pressure and took a 2-0 lead at 2:44 on Eric Ouelette's goal.
The only cloud on the Cadets' lead was a number of penalties, and with five minutes gone the Mules cashed in on their fourth power play to make it 2-1.
Just over 11 minutes into the period Norwich picked up its first power play and, although the wheels didn't come off, they did wobble a bit.
A simple clear into the Cadets zone drew Thompson (22 saves) way out of the net and Raphael Robitaille back. Robitaille's attempt to toss the puck across the ice was picked off by Colby's Patrick Rutherford, who skated wide of Thompson and potted the easy goal into an empty net.
"The goal they got to tie was a bad goal," McShane said. "But you have to move on and we came back with a quick goal."
A minute and 52 seconds after looking very bad, the Cadets looked very good on the power play as Justin Wissman took a pass in the high slot, stepped around a charging Mule and ripped a shot at Colby netminder Ben Grandjean. Grandjean made the save, and the puck bounced high over his right shoulder. Serino grabbed the rebound and tucked it into the corner of the goal for a 3-2 lead.
Serino sealed the deal in the third period when he was the toe on a tic-tac-toe passing play that went from Robitaille at the left point to DJ Famiani below the blue line, then out to Serino for a one-timer past Grandjean.
The two-goal lead was not enough to allow McShane to savor victory No. 500, especially when the players started pushing and shoving after a Colby shot and a save by Thompson.
"It's never over, that's just how I am, so I was just coaching to the end," McShane said. "Maybe I'll think about it a little later."
The victory means that the Cadets will open the playoffs at home against UMass Boston on Saturday at 7 p.m., and McShane will start working on the next milestone.
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