PROVIDENCE, R.I. - A six-point weekend from the blue line has earned Norwich University women's ice hockey sophomore Maggie Hunter (Royal Oak, Mich.) Little East Conference (LEC) Defender of the Week honors for the first time in her career, as announced by the league office on Monday.
Hunter totaled three goals and three assists while helping the nationally-ranked Cadets open conference play with consecutive shutout victories over Keene State College and Western Connecticut State University.
Norwich outscored the two opponents, 17-0, across the weekend, improving to 3-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 in LEC action. Hunter finished the two contests with a plus-6 rating while scoring twice on the power play.
Her weekend began with one of the most productive performances of her young career in Friday night's 10-0 home-opening victory over Keene State.
Hunter factored into four Norwich goals, finishing with one goal and three assists while posting a plus-5 rating.
The sophomore helped create Norwich's first goal of the night, assisting on Anna Lisac (Euclid, Ohio)'s first-period power-play tally that broke a scoreless deadlock at 11:17.
Hunter then moved from facilitator to finisher early in the second.
With Norwich back on the power play, she found the net at 5:07 to stretch the Cadets' advantage to 3-0.
She added two more assists later in the contest, setting up Jayden Russo (Northfield, Vt.) for goals late in the second and midway through the third as Norwich pulled away.
Hunter finished Friday's victory with seven shots on goal in addition to her four points.
Less than 24 hours later, she supplied another multi-goal performance as Norwich blanked WestConn, 7-0, in the first-ever meeting between the programs.
Hunter scored twice on seven shots, beginning with another power-play strike at 9:47 of the second period. Norwich needed only three seconds of the man advantage for Hunter to capitalize, pushing the lead to 5-0.
She then provided the final goal of the weekend with just 5.9 seconds remaining in regulation, securing her second goal of the afternoon and third of the season.
Across the two conference victories, Hunter produced three goals, three assists, 14 shots on goal, and a plus-6 rating as Norwich combined for 146 shots on net while allowing only eight.
The award is Hunter's first LEC Defender of the Week selection and fifth weekly conference honor of her collegiate career. She earned Rookie of the Week recognition three times during the 2025-26 campaign while also receiving Player of the Week honors once.
Hunter also gives Norwich consecutive LEC Defender of the Week recipients to begin the season. Senior Dani Ammons (Centennial, Colo.) received the honor last week after helping Norwich open the campaign with a 3-0 victory at No. 11 Plattsburgh State University.
The Cadets will now begin a four-game road swing, traveling to Plymouth State University on Friday, Nov. 13, before visiting New England College on Saturday, Nov. 14.
