The Middlebury men's ice hockey team defeated Norwich 2-0 on Saturday to claim the 26th Annual LayerEight Shootout title. With the triumph, the Panthers earned their fifth team championship in the event. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Norwich looked to jump on the scoreboard 1:57 into the first period, but the pads of Panther goalie Andrew Heinze saved a shot on the doorstep by Cole Fagan.
• Middlebury had a quality chance two minutes later when a bid from the right point by Christian Wood through traffic was snared by the glove of Cadet netminder Sami Molu.
• The visitors continued to buzz the zone, producing an opportunity with 2:30 remaining on a rising shot by Dave Overbeeke from the left circle was saved by the blocker of Heinze.
• The Panthers cashed in with 1:54 showing on the clock. Andrew Seaman won a battle along the boards in the offensive zone. He dropped the puck to Jake Oblak who wristed an attempt that worked its way through defenders before finding the left side of the net for the 1-0 lead.
• The Cadets looked to even the game just 22 seconds into the middle period, as a shot between the circles by Zach Ophoven was denied by Heinze.
• Norwich continued to look for the equalizer over the next few minutes with the best chance coming after a cross-crease feed to Colin Elliot that Heinze pushed across his crease and denied with his right pad with 10:25 elapsed.
• Max Noll skated onto a bouncing puck in the neutral zone three minutes later, rifling a bid from the slot that Molu got a piece of with his glove.
• In the latter stages of the stanza with Norwich on the power play, consecutive bids from outside the crease by Johnny Johnson were thwarted by Heinze at 16:43.
• With Middlebury utilizing an extra skater following a Cadet penalty, the hosts looked to strike 22 seconds into the third period. Revy Mack skated onto a loose puck between the circles but his wrister was denied by Molu.
• The Panthers looked to increase their lead with 7:06 remaining, but a quick wrist shot in the right slot from Bobby May was blockered away by Molu.
• Middlebury continued its pressure to push the advantage to a pair, cycling the puck in the zone before a point-blank shot on the doorstep by Reece Brednich was stopped by the right pad of Molu to keep it a 1-0 contest.
• The Cadets pulled Molu with 1:54 remaining in favor of an extra skater but were unable to muster any quality attempts.
• Following a faceoff at center ice with 31.1 seconds left, Jin Lee gathered the puck in the neutral zone and fired a shot from just outside the blueline into the back of the net for an empty-net tally and the final 2-0 score. 

NOTES

• Oblak's goal was his second in as many games and his first game-winning tally of his career.
• Heinze finished with 28 saves to record his second shutout of the season.
• The Panthers improved to 4-0-0 at home this season.
• The programs squared off for the 162nd meeting with Middlebury owning an 82-69-9 mark in one of the oldest series in school history with the first game occurring in 1926
• Oblak was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, while Heinze and Wood were selected to the all-tournament team. Rounding out the selections were Plattsburgh State's Riley Sutherland, Marian's Jaymes Knee along with Molu and Devin Thibodeau from Norwich.
• In Saturday's consolation game, Plattsburgh State defeated Marian by a 5-3 score.

The Panthers return to action on Friday with a 7:00 p.m. NESCAC contest at Amherst.