Women’s hockey: Young guns shine as Cadets scratch Wildcats

NORTHFIELD, Vt. – The second-ranked Norwich University women’s hockey team opened their New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) series with a 5-0 quarterfinal victory over Johnson & Wales on Saturday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.

After entering through a tunnel of crossed sabers formed by members of the Coprs of Cadets, the women’s hockey team came out firing a goal before the Wildcats hit the goal. Senior Ingrid Holstad-Berge (Stavanger, Norway) put Norwich ahead for a long period midway through the opening frame. Freshman in Holstad-Bergen goal Olivia Boyer (Saint Paul, Minn.) he had an assist on his first three points. At the end of the episode, Taylor Girouard (Burlington, Mass.) was found Ann Frederique Guay (St-Lambert-de-Lauzon, Que.) on the threshold to raise the cadets to two in the interval.

At the beginning of the second, freshman Rylie McIntyre (Brunswick, Maine) cleaned up the bounce from a Nikki Lague (Barre, Vt.) point shot for the first goal of his college career. Later in the period, Boyer was awarded a shorthanded goal after Johnson & Wales goalie Leah White mishandled the puck. In the third, Boyer scored his second of the game with McIntyre and Holstad-Berge picking up their second points of the afternoon.

“Playoff wins are hard to come by because you get everyone’s best,” head coach Sophie Leclerc Doherty said. – I thought we were decisive in our attack Leocadia Clark (Stowe, Vt.) gives us big savings on the back end.”

The Cadets continue their run in the NEHC playoffs when they host Southern Maine in the semifinals at Kreitzberg Arena. The puck drop is scheduled at 3:00 p.m.