NORTHFIELD, Vt.- Looking to continue their winning ways, the Norwich Women's Ice Hockey team hit the Kreitzberg Arena ice one more time before the Thanksgiving break against their intrastate rival of Vermont State Castleton.

Offensive opportunities were at a premium in this affair, as neither side kept the attackers to the outside and clogged up shooting lanes. Holding the territorial advantage throughout, the Cadets pressed the Spartans, where the chances were few and far between with Castleton goaltender Kirsten DiCicco held her ground.

With eight minutes remaining in the opening frame, Norwich would get on the scoresheet. After receiving the puck in the neutral zone from Emma Morel (Tournon, France), Taylor Girouard (Burlington, Mass) would gain the offensive blue line. Girouard would pass the puck to Madison Anderson (Green Bay, Wis.) along the left-wing boards. Anderson would find Livia Brooks (Walpole, Mass.) coming through the middle of the ice and would score after splitting through two Spartan defenders.
To open the second period, Castleton had a brief press attempting to tie the game, however in that period of time, only one shot found its way to Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.). But any momentum generated was stymied when the Spartans went on the penalty kill. Even though the Cadets did not convert, they regained their offensive momentum and only allowed three Castleton shots the rest of the frame.

It appeared that the Spartans were going to escape the second period only down a goal despite being out possessed, but the Cadets had other ideas. With time winding down, Lauren Tuzik (Frankfort, Ill.) recovered the puck in her defensive zone and made an outlet pass to Breanna Ricker (Laconia, N.H.). Ricker used a screen from the Spartan defender nicely and fired a puck through DiCicco's legs pushing the Norwich lead to 2-0 with 12 seconds left in the second period.

The third period was much the same, with the Cadets limiting any kind of offense that Castleton tried to mount and Clark answering the bell when needed. With two and a half minutes remaining in the briskly played period, the Spartans would go on their first power play of the game and took their timeout. Throughout the man advantage, they never pulled DiCicco for the extra skater. Any attempt at a comeback was stifled, and the Cadets would emerge with the 2-0 win, the second consecutive shutout for Clark.

"I thought we played a solid 60 minutes, battling hard against a tough Castleton group" said Head Coach Sophie Leclerc Doherty. "It's always a battle in the intrastate rivalry. Leo was once again solid for us and is leading the way with her confident play in net."

Norwich goes into the Thanksgiving break going unbeaten in their last five game. They will look to stretch it to six when they return from break on Nov 28 with a trip to travel partner New England College.