NORTHFIELD, Vt.- This weekend four of the top ten programs in Division III Women’s Ice Hockey are set to do battle inside Norwich University’s Kreitzberg Arena for the 12^th Annual East-West Classic sponsored by Northfield Savings Bank. In the tournament’s history the winners in past years have gone on to make runs to the Frozen Four, with many appearing in the National Championship Game, in addition to several National Champions.

The champion of the last ten tournaments are the two schools facing off in the opening game. At 4 PM on Dec. 10, fourth ranked Plattsburgh State (9-2-0, 7-1-0) will take on eighth ranked Elmira (9-2-0, 8-0-0). The last time these two squads met it was a decisive 7-0 victory for the Cardinals on Nov. 27 in the consolation game of the Cardinal/Panther Classic.

History is on Plattsburgh State’s side coming in having won six of the nine East-West Classics they have participated in, including the last two tournaments. After a strong start to the season, the Cardinals come in 2-2 in their last four games with victories against Elmira and 15^th ranked Oswego State. However, a notable loss to SUNY Cortland on Dec. 2 snapped their Northeast Women’s Hockey League (NEWHL) conference win streak at 74 games. Plattsburgh State also comes in with seven players who average a point per game or better, the most of the four contenders.

The three times the Cardinals did not win the East-West Classic it was the Soaring Eagles who emerged victorious, most recently winning it in 2019 at Plattsburgh State’s expense. Elmira has also split their last four games, leaving the Cardinal/Panther Classic winless courtesy of defeats to Plattsburgh State and Middlebury, the top ranked team in the country at the time. The Soaring Eagles got back on the winning track when they returned to New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) play with victories over Castleton and Plymouth State. Elmira’s backbone is sophomore goaltender Leonie-Louise Kuehberger (Hingham, Mass.) who leads the NEHC in Goals Against Average (1.16), in addition to ranking third in Save Percentage (.935), and boasts five shutouts in ten starts this season.

The back end of the Saturday doubleheader is scheduled for 7 PM which will feature fifth ranked Norwich (7-2-0, 6-0-0) playing host to third ranked Adrian (9-0-0, 4-0-0). Last year’s East-West Classic was the last time these two squads did battle, a 4-2 victory for the Cadets, which was Norwich’s third victory in three all-time meetings with the Bulldogs.

Despite being the host of the annual event, Norwich has never won the tournament with their best finish coming last season when the Cadets placed second. Norwich comes in having won three of their last four games with the lone blemish being a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Trinity (Conn.). Over that stretch Norwich outscored their opponents by a combined score of 20-3, led by senior forward Mikah Baptiste (Ottawa, On.) totaling seven goals and three assists. Baptiste’s roll gives her 13 goals on the season, the highest total on any of the participants. Her counterpart Ann-Frederique Guay. (St-Lambert-de-Lauzon, Que.) tallied four goals and five assists in the same four game stretch. Guay’s nine points in the past week gives her 21 points in nine games, which is the highest total of the tournament, and puts her four points away from joining the 100-point club.

This year’s edition of the East-West Classic marks the seventh appearance for Adrian where they placed second three times. This time around the Bulldogs will put their undefeated record on the line. Saturday night will be their first game since Thanksgiving weekend when Adrian defeated Chatham 6-1 on Nov. 26 and have not faced a ranked opponent since sweeping Oswego State to open their season. Most notable for the Bulldogs is senior goaltender Sophie Goldberg (Newtown, Pa.) who sports a 0.43 Goals Against Average, to go with a .976 Save Percentage, and four shutouts.

The victors of these two matchups will faceoff at 4 PM on Sunday Dec. 11 for the Championship following the consolation game scheduled for 1 PM.