ADRIAN, Mich. - St. Norbert College had its impressive turnaround season come to a close with a 5-1 loss to Aurora University in the championship game of the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association Slaats Cup Playoffs at Adrian College's Arrington Ice Arena.

The Green Knights finished the season 20-9 after reaching the NCHA Playoffs title game for the first time since 2016. St. Norbert set a school record with its 20-win season after finishing 8-19 in 2019-20 and not competing in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

St. Norbert and Aurora skated to a scoreless first period which saw each team put five shots on goal apiece. The Spartans broke through at 10:14 of the second period when Peyton Elliott registred a goal that would hold up into second intermission.

Aurora (22-6) would boost its lead when Marisa Trevino scored just 45 seconds into the third period. St. Norbert would respond with a power-play goal by Kelsey Ross with 16 minutes remaining. The goal was Ross' seventh of the year, with assists going to Ava Jaschke and Eve Parker.

The Spartans would pull away when Elliott scored at 8:04 followed by a power-play goal by Trevino at 12:37. Darci Matson scored an empty-net goal at 16:08 to close out the scoring.

Jaschke was named to the Slaats Cup Playoffs All-Tournament Team.

St. Norbert had a slight edge in shots at 24-23, but Tournament MVP Chiara Pfosi made 23 saves for the Spartans. Brynn Waisman made 18 saves for the Green Knights.

The Green Knights were 1-for-7 on the power play, while Aurora was 1-for-4.