Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich women's ice hockey team exploded for five goals in the third period to turn a one-goal lead after 40 minutes into a 6-0 victory over in-state foe St. Michael's on Thursday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.
The Cadets (12-1-1, 9-0-1 ECAC East) were led by two goals from senior forward Julie Fortier (Saint-Malachie, Que.), who took over the nation goal-scoring lead with her 15th and 16th tallies on the year.
After being stymied for over half the game by St. Michael's goaltender Erin Stevens, Fortier was finally able to solve the Purple Knights' goalie at the 15:25 mark of the second period to give Norwich a 1-0 lead.
Sophomore defenseman Marie-Philip Guay (Longueuil, Quebec) found Fortier all alone near the middle of the slot and fed her the puck. Fortier corralled the pass and flipped a shot past Stevens short side on the power play.
Junior forward Stephanie Invernizzi (Hingham, Mass.) ignited a fire under the Norwich offense in the third period with her third goal of the season. Ivernizzi beat Stevens with a wrist shot over her blocker from the right wing off a pass from Sarianne Lynn (Wethersfield, Conn.) to increase the lead to 2-0.
Fortier added her second of the night less than two minutes later beating Stevens with a low shot that never left the ice with a screen of bodies in front of her. Sophomore Renee Lortie (Cornwall, Ontario) picked up the primary assist on the goal for the 50th point of her career in the Maroon & Gold.
Elle Kadel (Fairbanks, Alaska), Jillayne DeBus (Howell, Mich,) and Amanda Wilks (Winnipeg, Manitoba) each added goals for the Cadets to cap the scoring on the night.
Sophomore goaltender Kelly Fisk (Hannibal, N.Y.) picked up her eighth win of the season and second consecutive shutout to give her four on the season and improve to 8-0-0 in the process as well. Stevens made 46 saves for St. Michael's in the loss.
Norwich outshot St. Michael's 52-11 and was 2-for-3 on the power play while St. Michael's was 0-for-4.
The Cadets are now unbeaten in 31 straight ECAC East regular season games and return to action next Friday night at 7 p.m. at Kreitzberg Arena when they host arch-rival Manhattanville. NU will be looking for revenge in Friday's showdown after losing 4-2 to the Valiants in the ECAC East finals last season.
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