ATTLEBORO, Mass.- The Norwich Women's Ice Hockey team continued their road swing through eastern Massachusetts with a visit to Johnson & Wales coming off a dominant showing the night before.
It did not take the Cadets long to find the scoresheet. With Norwich holding the territorial advantage, the Wildcats attempted to clear the puck out of danger, but the play was kept alive by
Wilda Ohman (Lulea, Sweden) who sent the puck into the lower corner, retrieved by
Aimee Headland (Nottingham, U.K.) who sent it behind the net to
Melianne Reynolds (Sherbrooke, Que.). Reynolds threw the puck along the boards back to Ohman whose wrist shot from the left point found the back of the net, putting Norwich ahead seven minutes in. It was the first shot on goal for either team, and Ohman's first collegiate goal.
Sensing urgency, the Wildcats began to push the offense looking for a tie, but
Madison Brunet (Timmins, On.) made a number of stops to preserve the lead. But, against the flow of play, the JWU would turn the puck over at their defensive blue line to
Livia Brooks (Walpole, Mass.) who took the turnover, put the shot on, which goaltender Leah White appeared to stop at first, but the puck trickled through her and over the goal line two put Norwich up by two which Norwich would take into intermission.
After a quick, early flurry by JWU to open the second period, the Cadets ramped up the offensive pressure and holding the Wildcats without a shot for most of the frame. As the period wound down, the Wildcats took back-to-back penalties within a minute and a half of each other. Off the faceoff beginning the second man advantage, won by
Olivia Boyer (Saint Paul, Minn.), Headland collected the puck at the high slot before passing it off to
Lauren Tuzik (Frankfort, Ill.). Tuzik sent a wrist shot on goal which was stopped, but Brooks was at the doorstep to clean up the rebound for her second goal of the game, and fifth in the last two games.
The third period was much of the same, as the Wildcats could not sustain any momentum under the Norwich pressure. With six and a half to play, off a neutral zone faceoff, the puck would come to the JWU defensive blueline, where the defender got handcuffed by the Norwich forecheck. Brooks picked up the loose puck and drove on goal, creating space at the net mouth for
Madison Anderson (Green Bay, Wis.) to push the Norwich lead to four. As regulation was winding down,
Taylor Girouard (Burlington, Mass.) would clean up a rebound of a
Marja Linzbichler (Graz, Austria) shot to ice the 5-0 victory. Clinching a 15 save shutout for Brunet.
"We were a persistent group tonight, weathering a relentless JWU team," said Head Coach
Sophie Leclerc Doherty. "They worked hard and challenged us for 60 minutes. That said, our young players really showed up again tonight, and
Madison Brunet was solid in net to earn the shutout."
The road swing will continue for the 13
th ranked Cadets, as next up they will travel across Lake Champlain and do battle with third ranked Plattsburgh State on Nov 14 at 6 PM.
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