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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Kirsten DiCicco turned in a 21-save shutout and No.3 seed University of New England scored twice in a span of 46 seconds to open things up in the middle portion of the 3rd period, as the Nor'easters advanced through the first round of the 2025 Conference of New England (CNE) Women's Ice Hockey Championship with a 3-0 victory over sixth-seeded Johnson & Wales University (R.I.) at the Harold Alfond Forum on Wednesday night (Feb. 26).

UNE (13-12-1) moves on to Saturday's league semifinals for a sixth consecutive competitive year and will visit No.2 Curry College for a 7 p.m. faceoff.

It took more than 29 minutes for the hosts to get on the board, during which the best scoring chance for either side was a shorthanded breakaway bid by Adria Tebo in the 1st that caromed off the top side of the crossbar.

Approaching the midway point of the 2nd frame, a shot from the slot by Averi Curran was fought off by Wildcats goalie Katelyn Cardoso, and Curran's pressure along the left wall helped keep the puck in the zone. After an attempted centering feed from the left point by Jamie Ryan bounced back to Hannah Humes, Humes carried below the goal line and banked one off the skate of Cardoso for the go-ahead score [Watch]. Humes, who is the only Nor'easter with double digit points on the year, at 17, now stands one back of Tebo in goals with six.

Johnson & Wales gave a big push to get back level in the closing minutes of the 2nd, but DiCicco was there for six stops in the final 5:23 of the stanza [Watch 2 / Watch 4]. The Nor'easters also blocked five attempts during the span; UNE had eight blocks in the middle period from eight different players.

DiCicco came up with another denial in the initial stages of the 3rd to hold the edge [Watch], shortly before the Nor'easters padded the cushion (2-0) at the 7:33 mark on a tally by Lainie Lemieux. Kaylen Taddia did some hard work behind the cage to nudge it out to Mackenzie O'Leary, who made a soft, no-look pass through a defender for Lemieux to one-time it into the five-hole [Watch]. Lemieux now has all four of her season goals in the last four outings.
 
Moments later, persistence by Danielle McCarthy added more insurance for the home squad. After Jamie DuPont was stopped on a point-blank slapper on the right side, McCarthy's look at the rebound in front was also saved, but she managed the chip the second backhand shot over the outstretched leg of Cardoso on the left side for her third goal of the campaign [Watch]. Tebo contributed an assist to the play, as well.

DiCicco had more key test down the stretch to complete her second shutout [Watch] and chalk up individual win number six on the season. Humes, O'Leary, Ryan, and Amanda Forziati each supported the defensive effort with a pair of blocked shots.

For the Wildcats (9-15-2), Cardoso posted 23 saves.
 
UNE's upcoming road trip to Curry will be the third of 2024-25, with the previous two resulting in one-goal setbacks (1-0, 2-1). In the other regular-season meeting back on November 16 in Biddeford, the Nor'easters did get the better of the Colonels in overtime (3-2) with a score by Tebo.