NORTHFIELD, Vt.- After spending the first three weeks of the season on the road, the Norwich Women's Ice Hockey team took the Kreitzberg Arena ice for the first time this season when they faced New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) foe William Smith Friday night.

The first twenty minutes was a struggle for both sides. The Cadets were able to sustain the territorial advantage but were kept at bay by Heron goaltender Erin Murray. Late in the period, William Smith had several opportunities presented to them, but Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) shut the door on them, keeping the game scoreless after one.

Early in the second period, Norwich would go on the first power play of the evening. While it did not yield a goal, it generated momentum that the maroon and goal would ride the rest of the night. Minutes after the Herons weathered the storm of a six-shot man advantage, the Cadets would break through. Jordan Brady (Green Bay, Wis.) eluded a Heron forechecker in the defensive zone to outlet the puck into the neutral zone. From right in front of the Norwich bench, Anna Lisac (Euclid, Ohio) and Livia Brooks (Walpole, Mass.) would exchange passes with Murray poking the puck off Lisac's stick where it would go behind the net. Brooks would recover the loose puck, skate it around to the bottom of the right circle where Murray made the original save, but Brooks buried the rebound to give the Cadets the lead.

Norwich kept pressing for more as the period rolled on. Eventually, in the dying minutes, the Cadets would add another. After the Herons were called for an icing, Olivia Boyer (Saint Paul, Minn.) won the ensuing draw back to Sihyun Kang (Paju-si, Korea). Kang sent it to her right for winger Taylor Girouard (Burlington, Mass.) whose shot deflected off Boyer in front before the ricochet came to Breanna Ricker (Laconia, N.H.) who put the puck in the yawning cage extending the lead to two. By the buzzer, Norwich had outshot William Smith 15-4 in the middle frame and held the Herons without a shot on goal in the final 9:58 of the period.

In the opening minute of the third period, Brooks would singlehandedly cause a turnover at the attacking blueline, have her first two shots stopped, but would find the back of the net on the third attempt pushing the lead to three. Three minutes later, Marja Linzbichler (Graz, Austria) would cause a turnover in the offensive zone, and get a shot off that was stopped by Murray. The follow up chance by Libby Lane (Northville, Mich.) popped up in the air, and landed behind the netminder before being poked home by Sophia Nelson (Castle Pines, Colo.) for her first collegiate goal. That marker would be the end of the night for Murray, as the Cadets would seal the 4-0 victory, and clinch Clark's 21^st career shutout.

Norwich will look to sweep the weekend series with William Smith Saturday afternoon Nov. 23 at 3 PM.