NORTHFIELD, Vt.- After 105:30 of game time, and 3:57 of actual time, Livia Brooks (Walpole, Mass.) set up senior Taylor Girouard (Burlington, Mass.) for the overtime winner to send the Norwich Women's Ice Hockey team to the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) Championship game after defeating William Smith in the Semifinals Saturday afternoon in the longest contest in Kreitzberg Arena's history.

To start the game, the Cadets had a decided territorial edge over the Herons, posting the first nine shots on goal with William Smith goaltender, Erin Murray turning away all of them. Late in the period, the Herons would go to the powerplay where they cashed in with a goal by Bella Hacker to put them ahead. Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) made several stops as the period wound down where William Smith would take the lead into the locker room despite being outshot 12-5.

Undeterred, Norwich kept the momentum going in the second period, with Murray coming up big on several occasions before the Cadets finally broke through with seven and a half remaining. Neris Archambault (Pepperell, Mass.) collected the puck before giving it off to Olivia Boyer (Saint Paul, Minn.). Boyer sent it to the back for Jordan Brady (Green Bay, Wis.) whose original shot went wide, but Boyer was able to stuff in the rebound to knot the score. Norwich sought the tiebreaker, but Murray kept the contest level after two.

In the third, the Cadets continued to hold the decided territorial advantage with Murray turning them away. With five minutes left, Boyer broke the deadlock after forcing a turnover with an aggressive forecheck and stuffing the puck by Murray to put Norwich ahead. Just before the final minute, the Herons went back to the man advantage. As the clock wound down on both the penalty and game clock, the puck was lodged in a lengthy board battle, when it came loose it found Kayla Ketchabaw at the bottom of the left circle who beat Clark for the game-tying tally with 3.4 seconds remaining, sending the contest to overtime.

After the Cadets misfired on an overtime winner early in the extra frame, the penalty kill came up clutch with two consecutive kills, including an abbreviated five-on-three. A brief four-on-four gave way to another Norwich powerplay where Murray came up big again. Once five-on-five play resumed, both Clark and Murray made stops to send the contest to double overtime.

In the second extra stanza, Norwich had opportunities early, including a breakaway where Murray made the stop. A Herons' timeout six minutes in gave them life as it became Clark's turn to hold the fort. The play evened out after another Norwich powerplay, but the score remained deadlocked forcing a third overtime.

Three minutes into triple overtime, William Smith went back to the sin bin. While it was unsuccessful, it gave Norwich life. 27 seconds after play returned to even strength, Boyer won the puck along the boards giving it to Brooks who set up Girouard for the game-winner to bring the marathon game to a close. Boyer factored in on every Norwich goal with two of them and an assist, while Murray ended the day with 62 saves.

With the semifinal victory, the Cadets will host second-seed Elmira in the NEHC Championship game on March 8 at 3 PM after they defeated Salve Regina 4-2 in the other semifinal contest.