NORTHFIELD, Vt.- Looking to defend home ice, the top seeded Norwich Women's Ice Hockey team opened the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) Tournament with their third straight Quarterfinal matchup with Johnson & Wales Saturday afternoon.

Off the opening puck drop, the Cadets held the territorial edge and put JWU goaltender Leah White to the test. After an early Wildcats penalty kill, and several Norwich close calls at the net front, the home team broke through. The puck came to the left point for Emma Morel (Tournon, France). Morel sent the puck along the blueline to Sihyun Kang (Paju-Si, Korea), whose initial shot was stopped by White. But, waiting on the doorstep for the rebound was Aimee Headland (Nottingham, U.K.) for the ice breaker 6:21 in. Before the first period expired, both sides would trade unsuccessful powerplays, but with the Cadets still maintaining a hefty advantage in the shot department, which was at 14-1 after 20 minutes.

The Norwich momentum continued early in the second, as they looked to widen their lead, but were repeatedly turned away with the Wildcats clogging the middle of the attacking zone. Late in the period, the Cadets had another flurry of changes that were stymied, leaving the score the same at second intermission.

After a back-and-forth start to the third, the Wildcats went on another powerplay, looking to tie the game. However, Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) had other ideas and shut the door. After the kill was finished, JWU would take a too many players on the ice penalty late, a successful kill but time was of the essence. With just over a minute remaining, White was summoned to the bench for an extra attacker. Soon after Headland would poke the puck free to Livia Brooks (Walpole, Mass.) for the empty netter to send the Cadets through to the NEHC Semifinal, with Clark earning her second straight shutout.

In the Semifinal, Norwich will play host to Southern Maine on Feb 24 at 3 PM.