Courtesy Norwich Sports Information

NORTHFIELD – Junior forward Kelley Madden (Novelty, Ohio) scored the game-winning goal with 54 seconds left in overtime to lift the Norwich University women’s ice hockey team to a huge 5-4 win over No. 1-ranked Adrian College on Monday afternoon at Kreitzberg Arena.

Sophomore forward KC Herne (Akwesasne, N.Y.) created a turnover in the Adrian zone by stripping a Bulldog defender and pushing the puck ahead to Madden as she was dragged down to the ice. Madden skated in and jammed the puck past Adrian goalie Kate Turner to send the home crowd into a frenzy and clinch third place in the East-West Hockey Classic for the second straight season.

Madden scored her first two goals of the season and was named to the East-West Hockey Classic All-Tournament team for her efforts. Junior defenseman Kirsten Watts (Chugiak, Alaska) also notched a goal and an assist to lead the Cadets’ offense in the victory.

Norwich (11-3-0, 9-0-0 NEHC) got a much needed non-conference victory over the top-ranked Bulldogs for the second straight season. The Cadets also beat Adrian 3-2 in last year’s East-West Hockey Classic consolation game.

Madden opened the scoring at the 3:47 mark of the first period with a terrific individual effort to force a turnover in Adrian’s zone and then beat Turner with pretty backhand over the shoulder to make it 1-0 Norwich.

Adrian answered at the 8:25 mark of the first period with Julia Barratt scoring a power play goal off assists from Brooke Schembri and Tory Harshman.

Norwich regained the one-goal lead at the 15:55 mark with Bryn Labbe (Calgary, Alberta) beating Turner five-hole from the middle of the left faceoff circle off a pass from Sophie McGovern (Hermantown, Minn.).

Adrian tied the game up at 2-2 at the 17:42 mark of the first period with Harshman scoring off assists from Maggie Mitter and Schembri.

Adrian (11-3-0, 8-0-0 NCHA) took its first lead of the game at the 7:34 mark of the middle stanza with Kelly O’Sullivan blasting a one-timer from the point that hit off a NU defender’s skate and deflected into the net for her first goal of the season. Neysa Miller and Annalise Andrews picked up assists on the goal.

Norwich responded with a shorthanded goal by Watts at the 11:53 mark of the second period off an assist from Brynn Wopperer (Amherst, N.Y.) to knot the game back up at 3-3.

The Cadets regained the lead again at the 1:42 mark of the third period with Maddi Blauth (Pennington, N.J.) redirecting a shot from the blue line by Watts into the back of the net for her sixth goal of the season.

Adrian tied the game back up at 4-4 with an extra skater on the ice with 34 seconds left in the game when Mitter finally pushed home a loose puck in the crease past NU goalie Emily Lambert (Riverview, Mich.) after she made three saves in quick succession prior. Kortney Diaz and Harshman picked up the assists on the goal after having previous shots saved by Lambert.

Adrian outshot Norwich 39-37. Lambert made 34 saves for the Cadets to improve to 7-2 on the season. Turner made 32 saves for Adrian to fall to 7-3 on the year.

Norwich returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Plymouth State at 3 p.m. in another NEHC matchup.