NORTHFIELD, VT. – Senior goalie Nick Modica (Suffern/New Jersey Hitmen) made 53 saves, and the Cortland men's hockey team advanced to its fifth consecutive in-season tournament championship game with a 5-4 victory over nationally sixth-ranked Salve Regina Friday afternoon during day one of the Norwich University Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament.

The Red Dragons, who have captured their last four tournaments dating back to the 2014-15 season, improved to 5-7 on the season and will face the winner of host Norwich versus Assumption Saturday at 7 p.m. in the title game. The Seahawks dropped to 9-2-1 with the loss.

Five different players scored goals for Cortland, led by senior Sean Perichak (Oakville, ON/Markham Royals) who recorded one goal and two assists. Sophomore Ethan Homitz (Allison Park, PA/New Hampshire Monarchs) tallied his team-high eighth goal of the season, which proved to be the game winner, and added an assist.

Freshman Trevor Veneklase (Brentwood, TN/Seahawks Hockey Club) netted his first career goal, while senior Douglas Elgstam (Stockholm, Sweden/New Jersey Rockets) and junior Logan Blaser (Aurora, ON/Brockville Braves) each added a goal for the Red Dragons. Juniors Louis DiMatteo (Nobleton, ON/Trenton Golden Hawks), Alex Storjohann (Phoenix, AZ/Kirkland Lake) and Tommy Ritchie (Spencerport/New York PAL Islanders) and sophomore Shane Beaulieu (Claremont, ON/Powassan VooDoos) collected one assist apiece.

Cayden Kraus led Salve Regina with two goals. Dylan Carabia recorded one goal and one assist, Eric Lipa netted a goal and four players registered one assist apiece. Tony Rehm started in goal, making eight saves in 31:08 before giving way to Louis-Felix St. Jean, who stopped eight shots in 27:47.

Perichak opened the scoring 39 seconds before the end of the first period with a power-play goal, one of three for the Red Dragons in the game. Blaser's short-handed goal at 2:53 of the second period put Cortland ahead, 2-0, Carabia scored just over three minutes later, but Elgstam scored at 8:43 and Veneklase buried a power-play goal at 11:08 to make it a 4-1 game. Kraus pulled Salve Regina to within 4-2 with his first goal of the game with the man advantage at 14:25.

Homitz scored just five seconds before the end of a Cortland power play early in the third period, and the Red Dragons held a 5-2 lead. Less than three minutes later, Cortland was whistled for a five-minute major penalty. Kraus netted his second goal three minutes later, and Lipa cut Cortland's lead to 5-4 at the 10:01 mark.

Another Red Dragon major penalty with 4:12 on the clock put Salve Regina on the power play for the remainder of regulation. The Seahawks hit the pipe with 1:55 to play, and pulled St. Jean for an extra skater with 1:05 to play. Modica, however, came up big in the closing minutes, making five saves, including a final stop with six seconds left to seal the win for Cortland.

Cortland 5, Salve Regina 4

Score by periods:
Cortland                    1-3-1      5
Salve Regina            0-2-2      4

Scoring Summary (Goals-Assists)
Cortland: Sean Perichak 1-2, Ethan Homitz 1-1, Logan Blaser 1-0, Douglas Elgstam 1-0, Trevor Veneklase 1-0, Louis DiMatteo 0-1, Alex Storjohann 0-1, Shane Beaulieu 0-1, Tommy Ritchie 0-1
Salve Regina: Cayden Kraus 2-0, Dylan Carabia 1-1, Eric Lipa 1-0, Vincenzo Renda 0-1, Erik Udahl 0-1, Tylr Carangelo 0-1, George Sennott 0-1

Saves: Nick Modica (Cortland) 53 saves (4 GA in 60:00); Tony Rehm (Salve Regina) 8 saves (4 GA in 31:08), Louis-Felix St. Jean (Salve Regina) 8 saves (1 GA in 27:47), Empty Net 1:05
Shots on Goal: Salve Regina 57 (17-18-22), Cortland 21 (7-10-4)
Penalties: Cortland 9-40:00, Salve Regina 4-8:00
Power Play: Salve Regina 3-8, Cortland 3-4

Records after game: Cortland (Red Dragons) 5-7; Salve Regina (Seahawks) 9-2-1 (ranked 6th nationally in USCHO Div. III poll)