NEWPORT, R.I. – The Norwich University women's ice
hockey team completed its three-game weekend sweep on Sunday
afternoon, defeating ECAC East foe Salve Regina, 3-1. The Cadets,
who finish their inaugural varsity season with a very respectable
12-9-2 overall record (9-8-2 ECAC East), will be the No. 4 seed in
the upcoming ECAC East Tournament.
As one of the top four seeds, Norwich will host an ECAC East
Tournament quarterfinal game at Kreitzberg Arena on Saturday, March
1. Faceoff is still to be determined, but it will most likely be at
either 2 or 3 p.m., since the Norwich men's ice hockey team
is hosting an ECAC East quarterfinal game of its own at 7 p.m. that
evening. The Cadets' quarterfinal game will be a rematch
against Salve Regina, who earned the fifth seed in the conference
tournament.
Junior forward Sophie Leclerc led the offense this afternoon
with two goals, while freshman goaltender Cindy Fortin stopped 42
of the 43 shots that she faced to earn the victory between the
pipes for the Cadets.
Leclerc, who has scored a team-leading 12 goals this season,
opened the scoring with a power play goal at the 15:12 mark of the
first period off an assist from Katie Leupp.
Norwich held a 20-10 edge in shots in the opening 20 minutes,
but the Cadets were able to push across just the one goal and they
settled for a 1-0 lead following one period of play.
Leclerc scored her second goal of the game at 8:41 of the second
stanza when she tallied a short-handed goal. Freshman forward Sarah
Scardino netted her 10th goal of the season just 2:15 later when
she scored an even-strength tally off an assist from Hilary Davis
at the 10:56 mark.
Salve Regina (9-13-2, 8-9-1 ECAC East) got on the board later in
the second period when Gabrielle Gardner scored her 11th goal of
the year at the 13:41 mark. The power play marker pulled Salve
Regina to within two goals at 3-1, but Fortin slammed the door the
rest of the way, stopping everything thrown at her.
Salve Regina held a 14-8 edge in shots in the third period, but
it could not solve Fortin as the Cadets skated off with the huge
victory.
