NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Ai Chung held strong in net for the Keene State College women's ice hockey team, but despite her 45 saves in goal, the Owls were downed by No. 8 Norwich University on Saturday afternoon.

Records

• Keene State: 6-10 (3-7-0 LEC)
• Norwich: 14-2-0 (10-0-0 LEC)

How it Happened

Ai Chung opened the contest up for the Owls with five saves in as many minutes as the Owls had their first power play opportunity of the game shortly after, 7:31 into the contest. Unfortunately for the Owls, it did not go in their favor as the Cadets' goaltender, Payton Sutherland, saved the four shots on goal while down a skater. It wound up being NU that scored while the Owls had their power play as Marja Linzbichler scored a shorthanded goal with 23 seconds left on the penalty to put the Cadets ahead by one. After returning to even strength, the Cadets continued to apply the pressure on the attack as Chung made seven more saves, but Livia Brooks put the rebound from one of the shots into the back of the net at the 15:21 mark in the period to give NU a 2-0 lead. The remainder of the opening period, the Owls killed off a penalty with Chung making five saves over the two minutes and Emma McNeil blocking a pair of shots for the Owls to limit the lead to 2-0 for the Cadets heading into the first intermission.
 
KSC opened the second with a power play opportunity early on, but it did not amount to anything as the Owls were then called for a penalty with 13 seconds remaining on the opportunity to send the contest to 4-on-4, 5:21 into the second. After NU killed off the remainder of their penalty, they capitalized on the extra skater opportunity with a power play goal from Breanna Ricker 6:53 into the period. KSC was called for another penalty shortly after, but NU tacked on another goal after the Owls called the penalty off for her sixth goal of the season. The remainder of the period, Chung made seven saves and the Owls killed off a pair of penalties to limit the lead heading into the final period of the day.
 
Although the Owls did not find the back of the net in the final period, KSC did hold the Cadets scoreless across the final 20 minutes. Chung made four saves in net for KSC over the opening 4:31 of the period, while Sutherland made a pair of saves over the following three minutes for the Cadets. With 8:01 remaining in the period, NU was called for a penalty, but the Cadets killed it off and the Owls followed suit by being called for a penalty but also killing it off as the contest started to wind down to an end. The rest of the way, Chung made three more saves in the final few minutes to hold the Cadets' victory to four.
 
Inside the Crease

• Keene State falls to 0-3 in the all-time series between the two teams.
• Chung made 45 saves in net for the Owls, while Sutherland made 13 while in goal for NU.
• McNeil and DeSouza both blocked four shots apiece for KSC, making up eight of the Owls' 16 total blocked shots.
• Norwich had the advantage on faceoffs again as KSC went 17-for-51 (33.3%).
• KSC had seven penalties on the day, giving NU five powerplay opportunities and one PPG to go with a shorthanded goal.

 
Up Next
 
Keene State returns home for their next contest as the Owls host New England College on Friday, January 23, at 7:45 PM.
Norwich next plays at Amherst College on Wednesday, January 23, at 6:00 PM for their next game.