NORTHFIELD, Vt.  – The second seeded Norwich University Women's Ice Hockey team opened their New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) run with a 5-0 victory in the Quarterfinals over Johnson & Wales Saturday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.
 
After entering through a tunnel of crossed sabres formed by members of the Coprs of Cadets, the women's hockey team came out firing scoring a goal before the Wildcats tallied a shot on goal. Senior Ingrid Holstad-Berge (Stavanger, Norway) put Norwich ahead for good halfway through the opening frame. On Holstad-Berge's goal freshman Olivia Boyer (Saint Paul, Minn.) notched an assist for her first of her three points on the day. As the period was winding down, Taylor Girouard (Burlington, Mass.) found Ann Frederique Guay (St-Lambert-de-Lauzon, Que.) on the doorstep to put the Cadets up two at intermission.
 
Early in the second, freshman Rylie McIntyre (Brunswick, Maine) cleaned up a rebound from a Nikki Lague (Barre, Vt.) point shot for the first goal of her collegiate career. Later in the period, Boyer was credited with a shorthanded goal after Johnson & Wales goaltender Leah White mishandled the puck. In the third Boyer would score her second of the game with McIntyre and Holstad-Berge picking up their second points of the afternoon.
 
"Playoff wins are hard to come by as you get everyone's best," Head Coach Sophie Leclerc Doherty said. "I thought we were decisive in our offensive effort with Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) making some big saves for us on the back end."
 
The Cadets will continue their run in the NEHC playoffs when they host Southern Maine in the Semifinals at Kreitzberg Arena. Puck drop is scheduled for 3 PM.