NORTHFIELD, Vt. -- Norwich rebound from losing its season opener in a big way as the Cadets edged the defending national champions Elmira 3-2 in the finale of the 2013 East/West Hockey Classic on Sunday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.
Senior forward Tori Charron scored twice, while junior goalie Taylor Fairchild made 20 saves in her first NU career start to lead the Cadets to the victory.
After falling behind 1-0 just 33 seconds into the game on a goal by Ashton Hogan off a faceoff, Norwich (1-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC East) came storming back to score three unanswered goals and take a 3-1 lead into the first intermission.
Junior forward Kaycie Anderson got the offense rolling by tapping home a pass on a two-on-one rush from senior defenseman Brittany Sharman to knot it back up 2:15 into the game.
Charron notched her first of the night at the 8:11 mark when she banged home a rebound off an initial shot by Rachel Bellio was stopped by Elmira goalie Lisa Marshall. Senior forward Emily MacKinnon also picked up an assist on the goal.
Charron struck again at the 12:44 mark with a strong individual effort after receiving a long breakout pass from senior defenseman Kayla Parsons on the right wing.
With an Elmira defender playing close, Charron snapped off a wrister that beat Marshall over the glove into the right top corner of the net while off balance to make it 3-1 Norwich.
Elmira cut the deficit back down to one at the 15:59 mark of the second period when Tanis Lamoureux scored off assists from Ashley Ryan and Erin Weston. However, that's as close as Elmira would get despite a strong attack by the Soaring Eagles in the third period.
No. 2 Plattsburgh State 1, No. 9 Manhattanville 0
NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Plattsburgh State won the Norwich East/West Classic championship after defeating Manhattanville 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena en route to a 2-0 opening weekend.
After racking up three points on Saturday, Bridget Balisy put an exclamation point on weekend by scoring the Cardinals' lone goal at 6:54 of the first period. The unassisted marker proved to be all the offense Plattsburgh State would need to secure the victory.
The Cardinals (2-0-0) outshot the Valiants by a 30-14 margin. The power play units of both squads were quiet Sunday as Plattsburgh State went 0-for-2 and Manhattanville (0-1-1) went 0-for-4.
Sydney Aveson picked up her second consecutive shutout with 14 stops. Manhattanville goaltender Kirsten Shaughnessy made 29 saves in the loss.
