Oswego Norwich Set for NCAA Rematch

Final Four weekend has finally arrived in Division III Ice Hockey. The chase for the National Championship has finally come down to this weekend. Two big games are scheduled for Friday. The late game will see UW-Eau Claire go up against Utica at 7PM. Before that game there is another semi-final game to be played. Friday's early game will see the Oswego State Lakers take on the Norwich Cadets in a rematch from the 2006-07 season. Norwich and Oswego State have met five times with the first meeting coming in 1978 and resulting in a 5-3 win for the Cadets. NU holds a slim 3-2 lead in the series, highlighted by beating the Lakers 2-1 in the 2003 National Championship game at Kreitzberg Arena. Oswego won the last meeting in the 2007 NCAA Quarterfinals with a 3-0 shutout win over the Cadets at the Campus Center Ice Arena on their way to winning the 2007 National Championship. Since 2009, Norwich and Oswego State are the only two teams to reach the last four NCAA semifinal rounds. The Lakers are the only team who has not won a national title, as Norwich won the national championship in 2010. Friday is the first time the programs have met during this four-year stretch.

So now that both teams are set for faceoff, lets take a look at how they both got here. Norwich comes into this one with a record of 24-3-1, gaining at at large bid after losing the ECAC East final to Babson. Norwich got revenge on Babson for the loss, beating them in their opening round game to advance to the final four. As for Oswego, they reached the tournament by winning the SUNYAC title over Plattsburgh, and then dispatching Adrian in overtime last week to reach the final four again. Norwich has won three national championships in school history: 2000, 2003 (beating Oswego) and 2010. This will mark 11th time Norwich will play in the Frozen Four, with their appearances coming in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012 and this year. Oswego comes in with one national championship to their credit, that was won back in 2007. This will mark the 7th time Oswego has made it to the Frozen Four, with previous appearances coming in 1987, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, and this year.

So now that we know the history of these two programs in the tournament, lets get right down to it and see how the two clubs stack up head to head.

Team Offense:
Oswego: 4.86 Goals per Game #2 in Nation
Norwich: 4.04 Goals per Game #6 in Nation

Team Defense:
Oswego: 1.75 Goals per Game #3 in Nation
Norwich: 1.57 Goals per Game #1 in Nation

Power Play:
Oswego: 41 for 151 for 27.15% #5 in Nation
Norwich: 18 for 103 for 17.48 #52 in Nation

Penalty Kill:
Oswego: 100 of 117 for 85.5% #17 in Nation
Norwich: 70 of 83 for 84.3% #21 in Nation

Top Scorers:

Oswego:
Paul Rodrigues- 15 Goals 30 Assists 45 Points
Luke Moodie- 22 Goals 21 Assists 41 Points
Chris Muise- 10 Goals 23 Assists 33 Points
Chris Brown- 7 Goals 21 Assists 34 Points
Jon Whitelaw- 10 Goals 20 Assists 30 Points
Jesse McConney- 4 Goals 22 Assists 26 Points

Norwich:
Travis Janke- 15 Goals 23 Assists 38 Points
Colin Mulvey- 19 Goals 18 Assists 37 Points
Tory Allan- 10 Goals 21 Assists 31 Points
Kyle Thomas- 12 Goals 15 Assists 27 Points
Pier-Olivier Cotnoir- 12 Goals 12 Assists 24 Points
Shane Gorman- 8 Goals 14 Assists 22 Points
Chris Duszynski- 6 Goals 14 Assists 20 Points

Goaltending:

Oswego:
Andrew Hare- 20-4-0 1.73 GAA .935 SV % 6 SO
Dan Jones- 2-0-0 1.56 GAA .934 SV %
Justin Gilbert- 2-0-0 1.55 GAA .944 SV%

Norwich:
Chris Czarnota- 13- 1- 1 1.46 GAA .920 SV%   3 SO
Matic Marinsek- 9- 2- 0 1.97 GAA ,896 SV%  4 SO
Parker Carroll- 2- 0- 0 0.58 GAA .950 SV% 1 SO

Puck drops at 4PM from Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid NY! Winner goes on to play for the National Championship Saturday Night!

(Stats Provided by Oswego State Athletics, Norwich Athletics and USCHO.com)