SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Behind Tate Brandon's 27-save shutout, including a save on a penalty shot in the five-minute, sudden-death overtime period, the Skidmore College hockey team battled nationally ninth-ranked Norwich to a 0-0 tie on Friday evening. Skidmore's Pack the Rink event brought in a near-sellout crowd of over 1,100 to the Saratoga City Rink.
 

• Both teams had prime scoring chances in overtime. For Norwich, Paul Schmid was hooked down on a breakaway with 2:21 left on the clock for a penalty shot. His forehand wrist shot was handled cleanly by Brandon before it could slip between his legs. 
• Moments later, Thoroughbred junior defenseman Will Dow-Kenny stripped the puck at the Skidmore blue line and raced through the neutral zone alone on a breakaway but was unable to get his shot by Cadet goalie Sami Molu to walk it off. It was one of 35 saves for the Norwich first-year netminder.
• Skidmore also had 46.5 seconds of power-play time, and a timeout, but was unable to get a shot off as the clock ran out to end the game in a tie. Norwich defenseman Hayden Heinrich blocked two shots to help the Cadets kill the 4-on-3 Skidmore power play.
• Both teams came up empty on the power play. Skidmore managed three shots on goal in three opportunities. Norwich had just two shots on target in four chances, which included a second-period five-minute power play that was interrupted by a Cadet minor.
• The Skidmore penalty kill is up to 91.7 percent (22-for-24) through six games.
• The Thoroughbreds remain the only unbeaten team in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) at 5-0-1 and 2-0-1 (7 points) in the league. Norwich is 3-2-1 and 2-2-1 (8 points).
• Four out of the last five, and three consecutive, meetings between Skidmore and Norwich in Saratoga Springs have ended in ties. The Thoroughbreds and Cadets tied 1-1 in January.
• The Skidmore defense, spearheaded by Brandon, came up big in a few key situations. A scramble in front of the Skidmore net at the conclusion of a successful penalty kill in the second period saw Brandon lunge across the crease to make an acrobatic save. Later, in the middle of the third, he came up clutch again with a point-blank glove save to recover from a dangerous defensive-zone turnover.
• Later, Skidmore's leading scorer Kaeden Patrick (6g, 5a) helped out on the defensive end with a backcheck to break up a Norwich odd-man rush.
• Molu made a huge save on Skidmore's Everett Wardle in the closing seconds of the second period followed in close succession by another Norwich block to keep the Thoroughbreds off the board.
• The Thoroughbreds also had a grade-A opportunity with just under nine minutes left in the third period on the power play when Ethan Heidepriem's one-timed rip, after Jacob Zwirecki and Nick Cozzi worked the puck to the open Heidepriem on the left wing, whistled just over the net.
• Wardle and Zwirecki led Skidmore with five shots each. Johnny Johnson had four for the guests.
• Skidmore finished 45-for-71 (63.4 percent) in the faceoff circle. Jacob Franczak went 10-1, Heidepriem was 10-3, and Wardle had 17 wins in 28 chances.

NEXT UP: Skidmore will look to remain unbeaten when it hosts New England College on Saturday at 4 p.m.