Score: #1/2 Norwich University 2, #3/3 Elmira College 1
Records: Norwich (27-1-3), Elmira (25-3-2)
Location: Kreitzberg Arena – Northfield, Vt.
 
NORTHFIELD, Vt. -- After knocking off the four-time defending NCAA Champions in two overtime periods the previous night, the No. 3/3-ranked Elmira College women's ice hockey team was unable to complete its incredible journey to capture the program's fourth national title, as the Soaring Eagles fell in the championship game to top-seeded Norwich University on the Cadets' home ice, 2-1.
 
Norwich ended tonight's title game with a 28-24 advantage in shots on goal and went 1-for-5 on the power play, while Elmira's power-play unit finished 0-for-4. EC senior netminder Kelcey Crawford '18 amassed 26 saves in tonight's contest to bring her season total to 622, good enough to claim sole possession of first place in EC history for single-season saves.
 
Registering Elmira's lone goal this evening was CCM AHCA East Region First-Team All-American Sarah Hughson '18, who scored shorthanded for the Soaring Eagles in the second period. She ends the season with 49 points on 28 goals and 21 assists, completing an incredible senior campaign that saw the East Haddam, Connecticut, native eclipse her previous three-year point total by nine.
 
Both teams had a handful of chances to breakthrough for the game-opening score in the opening period, but Elmira's Crawford and Norwich's Laurie King were up for the challenge between the pipes. Crawford was forced to make 12 saves in the opening 20 minutes, several of which came from the high slot, while King turned away six shots to hold EC scoreless.
 
In addition to superb goaltending, both penalty-kill units did a solid job limiting opportunities from the opposition. Elmira and Norwich went on the power play twice apiece, but only one shot on goal was registered during that time – an attempt by Norwich – as both power-play units came up empty handed with the extra skater.
 
Amanda Conway broke the 0-0 stalemate at the 11:58 mark on a breakaway. A missed shot by Elmira turned into a tape-to-tape pass from Roby Foley to Conway, who split a pair of Elmira defensemen before snapping a wrist shot into the top right corner for the game-opening score.
 
Compounding Elmira's headache was a body-checking penalty on Meg Lahey '19 at 15:36, which put the Norwich power play back onto the ice. However, the extra skater did little to aid the Cadets' offense, as a phenomenal individual effort by Hughson leveled tonight's national title game at one apiece.
 
Following a dump into the zone, Hughson's aggressiveness on the forecheck resulted in a turnover behind the Norwich net. From there, Hughson collected the loose puck and wrapped around the goal before tucking it between the pipe and King's pads for the game-tying shorthanded score at the 16:02 mark. Elmira eventually killed the Norwich power play and Hughson's goal held up through the end of the second stanza, as the Soaring Eagles skated into the final intermission deadlocked with the Cadets, 1-1.
 
The third period was filled with fast-paced action as both teams raced up and down the ice. The pace of place produced nine shots on goal by Elmira and eight for Norwich.
 
As good as tonight's final was, a late whistle in the third period ended up being the difference, as a controversial roughing call on EC put the top-seeded Cadets on the power play with 2:14 left in regulation. Although Elmira's penalty-kill unit denied Norwich on each of its first four power-play opportunities, Sophie McGovern did not waste this chance for Cadets, as she sniped the top right corner of the goal for the game-winning score with 1:33 left on the clock. McGovern's shot came from the high slot and was assisted by Conway and Bryn Labbe.
 
Elmira pulled Crawford from the net in the closing minute of the contest to skate 6-on-5, but the extra body did not yield a goal as Norwich skated away with its second national title in program history by a 2-1 final score.
 
News and Notes

• Elmira finishes the 2017-18 season with a 25-3-2 overall record.
• 25 wins are the second-most in a season in team history and one just off of the program record.
• The Soaring Eagles went 6-2-1 against nationally-ranked teams this season.
• The runner-up finish in the NCAA Tournament is the fourth in EC program history, as the Soaring Eagles are now 3-4-0 all-time in national title games.
• Hughson's goal was her 28th of the year and the 45th of her collegiate career.
• With 28 goals, Hughson moved into a two-way tie with Tori Charron '14 for fourth place in single-season history.
• Crawford finishes her senior campaign with season records for wins (22), saves (622), and save percentage (.955).
• Elmira's Class of 2018 will graduate this summer with four consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, three Frozen Four bids, two national runner-up finishes and one third-place trophy.