RUTLAND, Vt. – Five different players scored for top-ranked Norwich as the Cadets beat Castleton in men's hockey action on Saturday night, 5-0, in front of a season-high crowd of 965 at Spartan Arena.

Despite the season split, Norwich retained the Wolk Cup with the better goal-differential. The Cadets also locked up the top seed for the upcoming New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) Tournament with the win.

With a Suffolk loss on Saturday, Castleton remains one point ahead of the Rams for the eighth and final playoff spot and the right to travel to Norwich for the NEHC Quarterfinals on Saturday, February 22. Castleton finishes the regular season next weekend at home to host Suffolk and Johnson & Wales.

Braedyn Aubin, Jack Griffin, Felix Brassard, Jordan Hall, and Taeron Lewis scored for Norwich (19-2-2, 14-1-1 NEHC). TJ Dockery assisted twice with single helpers from Ryan Boucher, Coby Downs, Gabriel Chicoine, and Brett Ouderkirk. 

Matt Bloomer led the Castleton defensive effort with seven blocked shots and Troy Taylor had five as the Spartans finished with 27 and a combined total of 55 between the two games versus Norwich.

Tom Aubrun turned aside all 15 shots he saw for his third consecutive shutout and eighth on the year. Brandon Collett's evening was cut short due to injury, but he made 39 saves in nearly 45 minutes of action between the pipes while allowing four goals for Castleton (5-16-2, 3-12-1 NEHC). Kyle Alaverdy made 10 saves in relief as the final shot-count finished 54-15 in favor of the visitors. 

Aubin got his fourth of the year at 11:49 of the first period on the power play on a rush when he beat Collett over the glove after faking a rush. After the majority of the second period was played scoreless, Girffin scored his first of the year with 4:06 left on a tip that was discussed for a possible high stick up eventually upheld. Then, Norwich needed just 10 seconds on the power play for Brassard to net his team-leading 17th goal of the year on his strong-hand side with a wrister after Downs found him on a pass through the Spartan penalty kill. 

Hall made it 4-0 at the 4:44 mark of the third when he got open in the slot and accepted Ouderkirk's pass from the corner in motion. Lewis completed the scoring with an unassisted wrap-around with 3:16 left in the contest.