NORTHFIELD, VT. – A three-goal night from Claire Meeder '23 and a five-goal third period propelled the fourth-ranked Elmira College Women's Ice Hockey program to a 7-2 victory against seventh-ranked Norwich on Saturday afternoon from Kreitzberg Arena.
 
JUST THE BASICS:
SCORE: No. 4 Elmira 7, No. 7 Norwich 2
LOCATION: Northfield, VT | Kreitzberg Arena
TEAM RECORDS: Elmira (11-2-1, 9-0-0 NEHC), Norwich (8-4-0, 7-1-0 NEHC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Soaring Eagles controlled the pace of play in the first period of action and would get several good scoring opportunities against the Cadets. Holley Riva '23 would break the ice and get Elmira onto the scoreboard at the 15:33 mark off an assist from Emma Crocker '21.

Following a penalty on Norwich at the 15:47 mark, Riva would once again find the back of the night to give the Soaring Eagles a 2-0 advantage with a power-play tally. The Soaring Eagles would head to the locker room with a two-goal edge after holding a 12-3 advantage in shots.

The Cadets would have a pair of answers for Elmira in the second period as Mikah Baptiste found the back of the net at the 5:06 mark to trim the deficit to 2-1 for Norwich. Abby Chauvin knotted the score a minute later for the Cadets with her tally that would be assisted by Taylor Girouard.

An early scoring opportunity in the third period allowed the Soaring Eagles to take the lead for good as Meeder netted her first goal of the contest at the 3:25 mark with assists going to Eliza Beaudin '22 and Katie Manning '25. EC doubled its lead to 4-2 at the 10:48 mark as Manning tallied her second career goal, while Meeder added her second of the contest to give the Soaring Eagles a 5-2 edge.

Elmira tallied a pair of goals in the final minute of play to put a stamp on its victory as Meeder completed her hat trick at the 19:12 mark with assists from Beaudin and Morgan Mordini '22. Jenny Heath '22 closed the scoring by tallying her third goal of the season at the 19:47 mark as Lexi Hoffmann '24 and Crocker were credited with the assists.

Leonie-Louise Kuehberger '25 improved to 8-2-1 on the season for Elmira after recording 14 saves on 16 shots between the pipes. The three-goal performance for Meeder is her second this season and is the first EC player with multiple hat tricks in a single season since Jess Adams '21 during the 2019-20 season. Faceoffs were crucial for the Soaring Eagles as Crocker finished the contest 17-of-23 from the circle.  

UP NEXT:
The Soaring Eagles return to the ice on Friday, January 14 for an NEHC matchup on the road against Southern Maine at 6:00 p.m. Elmira closes the weekend with another NEHC tilt on Saturday against Salem State at 3:00 p.m.