NORTHFIELD, Vt.—The Hobart College hockey team got the first goal, but Norwich University scored once in each of the final two periods to skate away with a 2-1 win in the championship game of the New England Hockey Conference Tournament.
 
The fourth-seeded Statesmen, who had won 12 straight playoff games and four consecutive conference championships, appeared to take the lead late in the first period, but sophomore Ryan Lynch's deflection was waived off for a player in the crease. Less than a minute later, sophomore Mike Faulkner wristed a shot through traffic that beat Cadet goalie Tom Aubrun. Matt Pizzo and Jonas Toupal earned assists on the power-play goal.
 
Midway through the second period, second-seeded Norwich cashed in on a power play of its own. Jordan Hall skated the length of the ice and fired a shot past Hobart goalie Liam Lascelle to tie the game.
 
Still knotted up early in the third period, the Cadets won a faceoff in the offensive zone and Felix Brassard rifled home his 10th goal of the season.
 
Hobart came agonizingly close to forcing overtime. With the net empty in the final minute, junior Zach Sternbach hit the pipe. It was the first and best of five shots in the waning seconds for the Statesmen.
 
Lascelle made 29 saves on the night and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. He was joined by Faulkner.
 
Aubrun also had 29 saves. He was named the Tournament MVP. Brassard, Hall and Gabriel Chicoine were selected to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Norwich, which is ranked fourth in the USCHO.com poll and third by D3hockey.com, improved to 21-4-3 and earned an automatic bid to the 12-team NCAA tournament.
 
Ranked sixth by USCHO.com and eighth by D3hockey.com, Hobart falls to 19-7-2. The Statesmen will have to wait until Monday, March 4, at 10:30 a.m. to find out if they will receive one of the four at-large bids into the field.