Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Freshman forward Kaycie Anderson (Maple Plain, Minn.) scored a natural hat trick on her first three shots to lead the top-seeded Norwich women's ice hockey team to a 8-0 win over No. 8-seed Nichols on Saturday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena in ECAC East Quarterfinal round action.
Anderson pumped home three goals by the 15:57 mark of the first period to give Norwich (23-2-1) more than enough offense on its way to advancing to the ECAC East semifinal round for the fourth straight season.
Fresh off being named the 2012 ECAC East Rookie of the Year, Anderson opened the scoring at the 5:19 mark of the first by one-timing a pass by Julie Fortier (Saint-Malachie, Quebec) from behind the net and past Nichols starting goalie Tori Gianformaggio.
Fortier and Anderson hooked up again less than four minutes later when Fortier found a streaking Anderson on the left side of the goal and Anderson tapped the puck past Gianformaggio before she get over to the post to make it 2-0 Norwich.
Anderson completed the natural hat trick at the 15:57 mark when she picked up a rebound on the door step of the crease and slid the puck behind Gianformaggio on her back hand. Senior team captain Melissa Rundlett (Saco, Maine) and Sarianne Lynn (Wethersfield, Conn.) picked up the assists on the goal.
Lynn made it 4-0 with 44 seconds left in the first period by crashing the slot and banging home a pass from Anderson to cap the scoring for the opening 20 minutes with her sixth goal of the season. Rundlett also picked up an assist on the goal.
Freshman forward Vanessa Champagne (St. Naziere, Quebec) kept the Cadets' momentum rolling with her fourth goal of the season at the 8:19 mark of the second period. Stephanie Invernizzi (Hingham, Mass.) and Lynn recorded assists on the goal.
Less than three minutes later junior forward Jillayne DeBus (Howell, Mich.) tallied her 100th career collegiate point on a power play for her 17th goal of the season. Marie-Philip Guay (Longueuil, Quebec) and Tyne Gove (Berwick, Ontario) each had assists on the goal that made it 6-0 Norwich.
The Cadets added two more goals late in the third period from Meghan Papagno (Wakefield, Mass.) and Jackie Perez (San Gabriel, Calif.) to cap the scoring for the afternoon.
Freshman goalie Sophie Mundell (Fairbanks, Alaska) made her first collegiate appearance by playing the final 9:51 of the game after coming on in relief of sophomore Kelly Fisk (Hannibal, N.Y.).
Mundell recorded her first career save by stoning Nichols' Grace Murphy on a wraparound from behind the net and preserved the team shutout.
Fisk made four saves for Norwich to improve to 16-1-0 on the year. Nichols' Gianformaggio took the loss after surrendering four goals on 13 shots in the first period for the Bison. She closes the season with a 5-4-0 record.
Francesca Palazzo came on in relief of Gianformaggio for the final 40 minutes and made 35 saves.
Nichols ended its season for the second straight year with an 8-0 ECAC East Quarterfinal loss to Norwich. The Bison set a new program high for wins in a season and close the year with a 7-17-2 record.
Norwich will now host the ECAC East final four weekend for the second straight year on Saturday, March 3 and Sunday, March 4.
New England College will take on Manhattanville in the first semifinal at noon on Saturday and then the Cadets will face either Salve Regina or Castleton at 3 p.m. in the second semifinal. The two winners will advance to the ECAC East championship game on Sunday at 3 p.m. with the winner of that garnering an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.
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