Lady Cadets proud of hockey season

Their season was filled with high expectations and some doubt from people outside of the locker room. And after the buzzer sounded, they stood on the ice with their heads held high as if it were just another game.

"We played as hard as we could. Sometimes playing as hard as you can is not enough and Amherst was the better team," said Suzanne Whittaker, 20, a sophomore communications major from Chelmsford, Mass.

Norwich women's hockey suffered a disappointing loss in the NCAA Division III national hockey tournament to Amherst College.

Amherst won its second consecutive national, beating the Lady Cadets 7-2.

"Amherst capitalized on a lot of our mistakes. They proved why they were the defending national champs," said Sara Scardino, 22, a junior communications major from Stoughton, Mass.

Even though Norwich outshot Amherst 7-4 ending the first period, the Lady Cadets trailed 1-0 heading into the second.

During the second period Amherst stepped up its defense, outshooting the Cadets 16-7, and leaving the Cadets unable to capitalize on two power plays. 

"They made everything extremely tough for us. It seemed like they were just always two steps ahead," said Caitie Banfield, 19, a sophomore communications major from Montpelier, Vt.

Norwich scored two goals at the five-minute mark and after nine minutes to pull within three: 5-2.

"We had some momentum going and tried to keep it going and make a comeback in the final period," said Emily Goff, 22, a junior communications major from West Roxbury, Mass.

Amherst went on to finish the third period by scoring another two goals; sealing its fate and becoming the 2010 NCAA Division III National Champions.

"It came down to the little things that help teams win championships. Amherst did a good job on making us uncomfortable and locking down on defense," Scardino said.

"Our seniors worked extremely hard this season and it's not a way that we wanted them to end their careers, but we played as hard as we could and came up short," Goff said.

Playing their last season are seniors Sophie Leclerc, Katie Leupp, and Shannon Silver. According to Norwich athletics Web site, Leclerc ends her career as NU's all-time leader in goals (46) assists (63) and points (109).

 Leclerc was honored to the 2010 NCAA Division III Women's Ice Hockey All-Tournament Team.

The Lady Cadets will be looking forward to next season, returning a number of key players who helped the team make their first frozen four appearance, as well as recording its first 20-win season.

"Your season always seems disappointing when you don't win a national championship, but we have accomplished a lot this season and have great things to look forward to next fall," Whittaker said.