Box Score NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The Norwich University women's ice hockey team jumped out to a three-goal lead after the first period and never looked back en route to its 11th straight win with a 4-0 victory over New England College on Friday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.
Senior forward Tori Charron (Tecumseh, Ontario) tallied her second hat trick of the season, while Adelle Murphy (Roseau, Minn.) also tallied a goal and two assists to lead the Norwich offense on the day. With the hat trick, Charron is now tied for sixth on the all-time NCAA Division III goal scoring list with 98 career goals.
The Cadets improved to 20-3-0 overall and 15-0-0 in ECAC East play, while New England College dropped to 3-21-0 and 3-12-0 in league play.
After a sluggish opening 10 minutes, Norwich finally got going with Charron tipping home her 20th goal of the season off an initial shot by Marie-Philip Guay (Longueuil, Quebec) from the blue line. Murphy picked up the secondary assist after dropping the puck back to Guay.
Just 41 seconds later Charron tipped another shot in for her 21st of the season and second of the afternoon. This time senior defenseman Brittany Sharman (Ayer's Cliff, Quebec) notched the primary assist for her 15th helper of the season, while junior forward Kaycie Anderson (Maple Plain, Minn.) also picked up an assist.
After NEC's Jamie Tabb was whistled for a tripping penalty, Norwich needed just 11 seconds to cash in on the player advantage. Senior forward Haley Gibson (Richmond, Ontario) won the faceoff back to Anderson at the edge of the right faceoff circle. Anderson fired a pass back to Sharman who ripped a low shot that Charron got a piece of to redirect past NEC goalie Lauren Hopps to increase the lead to 2-0.
Norwich made it 3-0 at the 3:40 mark of the first period when Murphy pounced on a loose puck in the left faceoff circle after Guay's shot was blocked. Murphy found the puck and beat Hopps to the near post through a screen. Senior defenseman Kayla Parsons (Fairbanks, Alaska) picked up the secondary assist.
Charron capped the scoring with her 22nd goal of the season by roofing a backhand off a rebound under the cross bar with Hopps sprawled out on the ice. Charron collected a loose puck on the right side of the net after Hopps made an initial pad save on a low shot by Murphy. Parsons picked up her second assist of the night as well.
Norwich junior goalie Loren Carrier stopped all nine shots she faced to pick up her fifth shutout of the season and improve to 9-1-0.
The Cadets will look to become the first team in ECAC East history to finish league play with a perfect record when they close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against in-state foe Castleton.
