Having won the inaugural Little East Conference championship last Saturday, the Norwich Cadets and their first-year head coach and Norwich hockey alum, Dominick Dawes, are looking to continue their strong play in the NCAA tournament starting with Saturday’s first round matchup with at-large bid recipient, Salve Regina.
“We certainly didn’t have the usual prep or recruiting time this year with my late appointment to the job,” noted Dawes. “It has been a fun year, and the team has been up for the challenge of a brand-new coaching staff, new systems and just overall familiarity as a group. I think they adjusted and embraced the changes well especially with the buy-in and support of players like Cooper Bertrand, our captain. They understand there is an expectation for Norwich hockey, and I was very pleased to see that long after I played here, that culture and expectation for success is still here and strong.”
The Cadets have been a very consistent team this season having lost in regulation only three times the entire season. In fact, you have to look back to January 20 and a 3-2 loss to cross-state rival Middlebury to find their last regulation loss this season. Depth and goaltending have been strong contributors to the team’s success and more of the same is expected for the first round of the national tournament this weekend.
“Without question Sami [Molu] has been our backbone in goal this season,” stated Dawes. “He has been consistent all season and really puts us in a position to win every time we play. Beyond great goaltending our depth has been a big key to our success. Our ability to play with four lines and get contributions up and down the lineup from our forwards and D-corps has been a big reason why this team has had success. We will need to stay focused on what we need to do to be successful regardless of the opponent on Saturday.”
Salve Regina received an at-large bid having completed their D-III schedule going 17-3-0 and 20-4-0 overall. Due to their status this season as an independent program, their last game was played on February 10 against the NE-10’s Franklin Pierce. Without question the first independent team to earn a NCAA berth has been practicing and preparing but hasn’t seen game action in over a month before hosting the first-round game on Saturday.
“We have no doubt they will be ready to go,” said Dawes. “If there is a team that probably has a chip on its shoulder its Salve. Those kids aren’t responsible for their league situation, nor the number of games scheduled or their opponents. All the players and coaches have done is gone out and win who they played against. They are a skilled team, and we have seen a lot of film and have some familiarity from their last season in the NEHC. We need to stay focused on what we need to execute on in playing our game and know they are coming to beat us. It will be a key for us to start on time and make sure we are ready to go from the opening puck drop.”
Just a reminder that opening puck drop is at 7 PM at Howard Rink in Middletown, Rhode Island on Saturday, March 14.