NORTHFIELD, Vt.- The Norwich Women's Ice Hockey team kicked off their season closing four game homestand with their eight straight victory after a 4-1 victory over Salem State Friday afternoon.

From the jump, the Cadets held a decided territorial advantage and put Vikings netminder Samantha Jaworski to the test. After Jaworski made the first seven stops, Salem State would jump ahead against the flow of play. After a takeaway in the offensive zone, the puck came towards the goal mouth with the original shot being stopped, but Emma Ramsey would put home the rebound to give the Vikings an early lead. Feeling the momentum off the goal, Salem tested Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) some more but were turned away. The Cadets had several opportunities later but could not find a shot on goal and would go to the locker room trailing by one.

Five minutes into the second stanza, Norwich found the equalizer. After an initial opportunity, Anna Lisac (Euclid, Ohio) kept the play alive sending the puck in front to Breanna Ricker (Laconia, N.H.). Ricker tapped the puck to Madison Anderson (Green Bay, Wis.) whose shot trickled by Jaworski and evening the score. The goal gave the Cadets life as they continued to swarm, holding the Vikings shotless for the first 15 and a half minutes of the frame.

The pressure would eventually yield results as Norwich jumped ahead in the last four minutes. After Anderson gained the attacking end, she sent it to Neris Archambault (Pepperell, Mass.) before passing it off to Alex Leslie (Irishtown, N.B.). Leslie sent it down low to Ricker who deflected the pass on her backhand over Jaworski's shoulder, making her water bottle dance to give the Cadets the lead after two in a period where they outshot the Vikings 17-4.

In the first minute of the third, the Norwich top line struck again. Anderson cut off a Viking clearing attempt before centering it to a wide open Lisac, a shot that Jaworski got a piece of it, but the puck trickled over the goal line to make it a two-goal game. Five minutes later, Lisac would find the back of the net again, this time on the power play. After Olivia King (Old Town, Maine) kept the play alive, Lisac cleaned up a loose puck from an Olivia Boyer (Saint Paul, Minn.) opportunity to make it a 4-1 game. That goal gave Lisac three points on the day to go along with a goal and an assist each for Anderson and Ricker.

The Cadets and Vikings will meet again Feb. 8 at 1 PM to close out the weekend series.