- In a game where both teams scored an identical number of goals in three quarters, it was a critical third quarter in which the Norwich University men's lacrosse team was held scoreless that proved to be the difference-maker in the Cadets' 10-7 loss to Plymouth State University on Tuesday afternoon on Sabine Field. The first half was dominated by strong defense and exquisite netminding by both teams resulting in a 3-3 deadlock at the half. Plymouth State (1-1) opened the scoring at the 12:07 mark when Jake Dolcimascolo deposited a feed from Danny Tanner into the Cadets net to give the visitors a 1-0 lead. Norwich (1-2) responded with a goal from junior midfielder Kevin Horchak (Mullica Hill, N.J.) two and a half minutes later to tie the game at 1-1. Senior midfielder John Jennings (Riva, Md.) fed the ball behind the net to senior attackman Jack Anzalone (Ridgewood, N.J.) who fed a diagonal pass out in front to a wide-open Horchak who ripped a shot into the top left corner. Senior midfielder Russell Gilligan (Fountain Hills, Ariz.) put the Cadets on top with his sixth goal of the season at the 13:38 mark of the second quarter. Gilligan pressured his man who ultimately lost control of the ball to Anzalone 30 yards from goal. He broke to net and then found Gilligan on the far side to finish the 2-on-1 break. The Panthers knotted the game at 2-2 on a goal with the extra man just a minute later as Connor Delea posted his third goal of the season off of an assist from Nick Drew. Mark Iamele gave the visitors the lead once again at 3-2 as he scored his first of the year off of a pass from Delea at the 6:02 mark of the second. With 3:22 left to play in the opening half, Anzalone squared up the score at 3-3 when he charged out from behind the net splitting a pair of defenders and managed to get off a shot that PSU's Robert Porter initially got a piece of but could not keep it from dribbling across the line. The third quarter proved to be the turning point in the game in favor of the Panthers as they strung together three-straight goals while keeping the Cadets off the scoreboard. Riley Roy scored his first of the season to start the run and then Delea and Dolcimascolo scored just 19 seconds apart to give PSU some breathing room at 7-4. The scoring ramped up in the final quarter with each team potting four goals. Jennings scored his third of the season to start the period before Roy and Docimascolo answered for the Panthers to give them their biggest lead of the game at 8-4 with 11:41 to play. Norwich captured the momentum throughout the mid-part of the frame scoring three unanswered goals to close the deficit to 8-7. Horchak scored his second of the game and fourth of the season from an assist by senior midfielder Kyle Maxim (Dracut, Mass.) before Gilligan was forced into shooting an awkward and contested low liner with time winding down on the shot clock which beat Porter low and to the far post. Senior midfielder Connor Bourque (Goffstown, N.H.) capped the run with his third of the season off of a feed from Anzalone. That was as close as the Cadets would get as Plymouth State scored twice in the final two minutes to ice the hard-fought road win. Norwich outshot the Panthers 45-28 but was unable to solve Porter, especially in the first half as the opposing goalie stopped 11 shots in the first half alone. That combined with some wayward shooting in the opening two frames made scoring a challenging endeavor. Porter picked up his first win of the season for the Panthers making 11 saves while NU's junior goalie Nick Kandra (Crofton, Md.) made seven saves in the loss. Anzalone facilitated the Cadets' offense registering a trio of assists on top of his fifth goal of the season. Gilligan and Horchak each tallied a pair of goals to help drive the offense. Junior defenseman Sean Wallace (Sandy Hook, Conn.) had a solid performance on the backline for the Cadets registering a team-high six ground balls and three caused turnovers. Junior faceoff specialist Chris Ward (Westfield, Mass.) was 7-of-14 at the X and picked up five ground balls. Norwich will kick off its Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) slate of games next Tuesday when it travels to face St. Joseph (Conn.) at 3:30 p.m.