DE PERE - St. Norbert College wrapped up its first Northern Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season championship with a 6-2 win over Lawrence University at Resch Olympic Pavilion.
The Green Knights (19-4-1, 15-1-1 NCHA), ranked No. 10 in the USCHO.com Division III Poll, clinched the Kronschnabel Cup (pictured) by pulling away with three third-period goals. It is St. Norbert's first NCHA championship since winning the then-O'Brien Cup Playoffs in 2013.
St. Norbert fell behind early when Lawrence's Josie Daly scored on a shot through a screen just 6:32 into the game. The Green Knights responded fairly quickly, with
Courtnie Hogan posting a power-play goal at 12:44 of the first period. St. Norbert went ahead 2-1 when
Lexi Bonfe scored at 13:27, with the lead holding up into first intermission.
The Vikings didn't go away, with Sofia Alvarez scoring at 7:05 of the second period. St. Norbert got a big goal late in the second period, when
Samantha Pacino registered her first collegiate goal by potting a loose puck in the crease at 19:38 for a 3-2 lead.
St. Norbert pulled away with a pair of power-play goals in the third period, getting such markers from
Abby Pieper at 6:10 and
Kelsey Ross at 11:38. The Green Knights salted the game away on
Jo Mahlum's goal at 15:42.
The Green Knights had four multi-point games, led by Pieper's one goal and two assists for three points. Ross, Mahlum and Bonfe all had one goal and one assist for two points.
St. Norbert outshot Lawrence 46-10.
Keira Markell had eight saves for the Green Knights, while Ella Sciborski turned away 40 shots for the Vikings.
St. Norbert was 3-for-6 on the power play, while Lawrence was 0-for-1.