CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. – Cole Pouliot-Porter emphatically slammed his left glove against the glass in celebration moments after he stonewalled Thomas Spencer on a penalty shot with 40 seconds remaining in the Northern CT Nor’easters game against Little Caesars on Thursday afternoon.

Northern CT was holding a slim 3-2 lead in the must-win game with each team needing the victory to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2025 Chipotle-USA Hockey Youth Tier I 18U National Championship at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Pouliot-Porter, though, was not rattled one bit with the game essentially on the line, creating a lasting memory during his first ever trip to a USA Hockey Youth Nationals tournament.

“It was so much fun, this is my first nationals,” Pouliot-Porter said. “I mean towards the end, our game got packed and the stands were almost filled. There were people around the glass. It was great and to get that that penalty shot save felt great. Obviously, I don’t think I have ever felt a more exciting jolt of energy in a game.”

Pouliot-Porter then remained stout in the winding seconds as Northern CT held on for the 3-2 victory, setting up a quarterfinal matchup Friday against No. 1 seed Shattuck St. Mary’s at 12:45 p.m. ET.

“We knew what this game meant,” Pouliot-Porter, who finished with 21 saves, said. “Our team and Caesars were battling for a spot to play Shattuck tomorrow. Our coach was preparing us days prior for this game and to come out on top and play a little bit of a role is obviously humbling, and I'm super grateful for this feeling, and our team is the ones who deserve to be congratulated because they did all the work.”

Kyle Quick, head coach of the Nor’easters, credited his goaltender’s athleticism for helping him be in the right position during the penalty shot.

“Cole's been with me since 16U,” Quick said. “He's very athletic, so whenever we have shootouts, I'm very confident in him.  I’m confident in Cole. He is a really good goalie. His demeanor in net. He has that different style so his splits and athleticism really let him take away space. Opposing players want to be confident with their hands and he just takes it away down low.”  

Oliver Morris gave the Nor’easters a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal with 3:50 remaining in the first period. Connor Noll then made it 2-0 only 21 seconds into the second before Little Caesars roared back to life with two goals in a span of 58 seconds from Hayden Campbell and Mason Benedict to tie the game at 2-2 with 7:46 left in the second.

However, Noll then struck again with a power-play goal with 14 seconds remaining in the second period to put Northern CT back in front, 3-2.

“Well, we kind of just kept working our bag off,” Noll said. “They scored two quick goals to get back in the game, but we knew we just had to stick to the plan. I went in and got a quick shot off and there we go, 3-2. It feels amazing moving on to play Shattuck. It's going to be a game. They've been honestly a very consistent team, so we're going to see what we can do, and hopefully it will work out.”

Noll, who is committed to play for Cedar Rapids next year in the USHL, has three goals and one assist through three games this week in Pennsylvania.

Last year, Noll and some of his teammates were part of the team that was knocked out of the 18U quarterfinals by the Arizona Jr. Coyotes. Noll says that will be added motivation for them on Friday.

“I was here last year, and we lost in the quarters,” Noll concluded. “We want to go all the way this time.”

Youth Tier I 18U Quarterfinals Friday Matchups

Ohio Blue Jackets (OH) vs. Long Island Gulls (NY) at 12:15 p.m.
Northern CT Nor’Easters (CT) vs. Shattuck-St. Mary’s (MN) at 12:45 p.m.
Culver Academies (IN) vs. Saints Hockey Club (NY) at 3 p.m.
Central Mass. Penguins (MA) vs. Boston Jr. Eagles (MA) at 3:30 p.m.