PLATTSBURGH, N.Y.- The fourteenth ranked Norwich Women's Ice Hockey team began their season by renewing pleasantries with their longtime rival across Lake Champlain in a battle with sixth ranked Plattsburgh State Saturday afternoon.

After Norwich tallied the first shot of the contest a minute in, the Cardinals countered and would break the ice in the first two minutes. With a moving screen in front of the goal, a Megan Forsythe wrist shot from the faceoff dot found the back of the net just over two minutes into the game.

After back-to-back successful penalty kills, the Cadets answered. Marja Linzbichler (Graz, Austria) intercepted the puck at center ice and brought the puck back into the offensive zone before dropping it back to the right point for Jordan Brady (Green Bay, Wis.) whose wrist shot made it through traffic tying the game halfway through the first. Minutes later, Plattsburgh would go to their third powerplay of the period and convert on a long wrist shot from just inside the blueline. Late in the period, the Cadets had several close calls including Breanna Ricker (Laconia, N.H.) hitting pipe and being turned aside by Cardinal goaltender Chloe Lewis.

The second period opened with back-and-forth action between the two rivals, with the Cardinals extending their lead nearly six minutes in on a tap in by Bridget Orr. As the period wore on, the two sides continued to trade chances and powerplays, but Lewis and Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) kept the game at a two-goal difference at the second intermission.

Lewis and Clark continued to trade big saves into the third period, with Lauren Tuzik (Frankfurt, Ill.) helping the cause with several blocked shots. Late in the third, the Cadets would go to their second powerplay of the afternoon looking to close the gap, but Lewis shut the door totaling nine saves in the third, closing out the 3-1 win for Plattsburgh State.

Norwich will begin New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) action next weekend when they travel to Elmira. The first game of the two-game series will take place Nov. 8 at 6 PM.