Middlebury scored three second period goals on its way to a 5-1 win over Plattsburgh in the PrimeLink Great Northern Shootout. The Panthers will take on Norwich, a 4-3 overtime winner over Potsdam, in the title game tomorrow night at 7:00. Plattsburgh and Potsdam will collide in the consolation game at 4:00.

Middlebury opened the scoring just 2:59 into the game as Evgeny Saidachev found Eric LaFreniere in a two-on-one break as LaFreniere scored with a quick deflection from the left side. Plattsburgh tied the game just 16 seconds into a power play as Bryan Wilson made a quick crossing pass to Ryan Busby who hit the open net from the left side at 14:47.

The Panthers took a 2-1 lead just 1:08 into the second period with a power play goal. John Sales gathered a puck after a shot from Tom Maldonado and snapped home a shot from the left face-off circle. The Panthers struck again at 8:10 as Mickey Gilchrist took a drop pass from James Guay in transition before beating Tony Seariac with a pair of nifty moves. The Middlebury defense then came up big, stopping 4:09 worth of Plattsburgh power play opportunities, including 1:52 of a two-man advantage. Middlebury took a 4-1 lead at 15:36 as Guay found Sales in the high slot before he snapped one to the top right corner of the net.

Sales earned his hat trick at 10:47 of the third period as he won a face-off from the right circle before snapping a shot to the top left corner from his knees.

Yen-I Chen ended the game with 12 saves for Middlebury, while Tony Seariac made 24 stops for Plattsburgh.