PAXTON, Mass. - The Norwich University women's lacrosse capped off the 2024 regular season with a resounding 18-7 win over Anna Maria College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action on Tuesday afternoon, earning a berth into the GNAC Tournament in the process.

Eight Cadets drilled shots into the back of the net, with the offense spearheaded by a four-goal showing from Sophie Zemianek (St. Albans, Vt.), while Caitlyn Fielder (East Calais, Vt.) and Athena Merck (West Yarmouth, Mass.) each logged three-goal hat tricks in the win.  Quinn Mustone (Medford, Mass.), Ellie Moriarty (Stowe, Vt.), and Julia Proto (Orange, Conn.) all recorded multiple goals with two apiece, and Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) and Addison Reil (East Barre, Vt.) rounded out the offense with a goal each, as Reil registered her first collegiate goal.

Proto and Moriarty sparked the offense swiftly, tallying scores within the opening three minutes.  A man-down opportunity from the AMCATS cut the lead in half, but six-straight scores from the Cadets, comprised of goals from Zemianek, Proto, Fielder, and Moriarty, stretched Norwich's lead to 8-1 after the opening 15 minutes.

In a repeat of the first period, Mustone and Clark struck within the initial three minutes, with Clark's score coming on a man-down chance.  Anna Maria found some momentum on back-to-back tallies, but the Cadets again had an answer, as Zemianek and Clark neutralized the AMCAT run with a pair of their own.

Norwich shut out the hosts in the third period while racking up four more goals, as Merck ripped in two unassisted tallies before Mustone and Reil rallied for quick scores to close the period.  Merck picked up her third just over a minute into the fourth, as the AMCATS proceeded to get three back with a Zemianek tally sandwiched in between.

The Cadets were dominant offensively, taking 44 shots to just 16 for the AMCATS, all the while collecting 23 draw controls while withholding Anna Maria to five.  Clark corralled nine of those draws, while Fielder and Celine Juneau (Chazy, N.Y.) hauled in six and five, respectively.  Fielder led the team in ground balls with four, and Reil's defense generated a team-leading two turnovers.

Maeve Noble-Lowe (Freedom, Maine) earned another win in the crease, putting in a full 60 minutes of work and logging six saves against the AMCATS.  Moriarty led the team in points, tallying five, complementing her two goals with a game-high three assists.  Clark divvied out two assists, while Juneau, Julia Gutke (Stockholm, Sweden), and Merck all supplied helpers.

The win cements the Cadets as the fifth-seed in the North Division (#5N) in the upcoming GNAC Tournament, and places Norwich in the GNAC Play-In Game.  The Cadets will travel to #4N Simmons University on Thursday, Apr. 25, for a 6:00 p.m. bout with a trip to the GNAC Quarterfinals on the line.  Norwich will look to avenge an 18-10 loss to the Sharks in early April.