Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich women's soccer team clinched home field for the first round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament with a 2-0 win over Rivier on Saturday at Howard Field.
Before the match, NU honored its five seniors and then the Cadets battled through a physical match to secure the No. 4 seed in the GNAC Tournament. Norwich will host St. Joseph (Conn.) on Saturday at a time to be determined.
After a scoreless first half, sophomores Baylie Lamarre and Grace Fitzpatrick each scored a goal early in the second half to account for the Norwich offense.
Lamarre finally got the Cadets on the board with a free kick blast from 40 yards out that she tucked in underneath the cross bar and over the head of Rivier goalkeeper Christine Surber. The goal came in the 52nd minute and was Lamarre's eighth of the season.
Fitzpatrick made it 2-0 just 2:43 later when she one-touched a crossing pass from freshman midfielder Alex Frank on the left wing into the right corner of the net on the far post for her sixth goal of the season.
Senior goalkeeper Meghan Kennedy picked up the win and the shutout to improve to 9-2-1 on the season and increase her season shutout total to four. She turned aside all five shots she faced. Surber took the loss for Rivier after turning aside six shots.
Norwich outshot Rivier 26-6 and had 12 corner kicks to the Raiders' one.
The Cadets (11-3-2, 8-3-2 GNAC) will close out the regular season with a non-conference match against SUNY Plattsburgh on Wednesday at Howard Field. The Cardinals are 6-6-3 on the year and will try and prevent Norwich from completing a perfect non-conference season.
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