Goals Flow for St. Norbert in Rout of St. Mary's

From Sports Information Director, January 4, 2013 | Men's Hockey
by Dan Lukes, dan.lukes@snc.edu, (920) 403-4077

DE PERE - St. Norbert College had its best offensive performance in 14 years as the fifth-ranked Green Knights pummeled St. Mary's University 12-2 in a non-conference game at the Cornerstone Community Center.

The Green Knights (11-2-1) led 1-0 after one period but tied a school record for goals in a second period with seven, and then closed out the game with four third-period markers. It was the first time St. Norbert reached double figures in scoring since an 11-3 win over St. Mary's on Nov. 11, 2005, and the most goals since a 14-0 win over Marian on Jan. 2, 1999.

St. Norbert got the scoring started with a pretty backhand goal by Cullen Bradshaw at 10:51 of the first period for the lead after 20 minutes. St. Mary's (5-7) answered 11 seconds into the second period on a goal by Mike Hill to knot the score at 1-1.

The Green Knights then scored seven consecutive goals, including a pair of shorthanded goals to give St. Norbert a huge momentum boost. Cody Keefer finished a power-play goal at 1:41. Joe Perry then scored shorthanded at 5:07 for a 3-1 lead. St. Norbert's Chris Rial took a major checking-from-behind penalty 25 seconds later, but the Green Knights scored shorthanded again at 9:07 when Bradshaw scored unassisted for a 4-1 edge.

St. Norbert scored four times in the final 4:27 of the second period. Mason Baptista finished a 5-on-3 power-play chance at 15:33, and Erik Cooper scored on a power-play try at 16:44. Bradshaw picked up a hat trick at 19:18, and Patrick McCadden finished the blitz with a score at 19:39.

Hill scored again at 3:39 of the third period, to cut the deficit to 8-2, but St. Norbert continued the onslaught. Kyle Stroh scored unassisted at 12:03, and Bradshaw connected on his fourth goal of the night at 13:29. McCadden scored his second goal of the game at 14:10, and Keefer scored his second goal of the game at 19:57.

Bradshaw added two assists to finish with a six-point game, just one point shy of matching the school record. Keefer had two assists for four points, while Baptista had three assists for four points. Cooper had two assists for three points, while Marian Fiala had two assists. Fourteen of St. Norbert's 18 skaters ended up with at least one point in the game.

St. Norbert outshot St. Mary's 37-24. David Jacobson made 14 saves in the first two periods for St. Norbert, while Mike Martin made eight saves in the third period in his first appearance of the season. St. Mary's Andy Scheib went the distance for the Cardinals, making 25 saves.

St. Norbert was 3-for-7 on the power play, while St. Mary's was 0-for-5.