Huskies double Tommies 6-3

The St. Thomas Tommies were bested by the Saint Mary's University Huskies 6-3 in AUS men's hockey action Saturday night in front of 289 spectators at the Grant-Harvey Centre. 

With the win the Huskies improve to 11-6-2 while the Tommies drop to 1-17-1.

Tommies head coach Kyle McAllister said the team's record doesn't reflect how far they've come this season.

"It's tough to see the standings and see where we're at, but I don't think it's a reflection of the growth we've had," he said. "I know for the most part we held our own, which is a big step in the right direction for us. I think we showed a lot of people that when we put it together we can play."

The Huskies offence started early with Stephen Gillard finding the back of the net on the first shot of the game at 1:16. The Tommies responded at 9:47 with a goal from Matt MacLeod, who capitalized on a Huskies turnover to tie the game 1-1. 

Steven Beyers gave the Huskies the go-ahead goal at 11:46, beating STU netminder Tyson Teichmann with a wrister from the slot. 

Shots on goal in the first were 7-11 in the Huskies favour. 

Both teams generated some quality chances in the second, forcing STU's Teichmann and SMU's Marc Terriault to make some big saves. The Huskies eventually found the back of the net when Kyle Pereira capitalized on a Jordan Moore high sticking penalty to give SMU a 3-1 advantage. 

The third period brought on a flood of goals. The Huskies extended their lead to 4-1 just 36 seconds into the frame with a goal from Mitchell Maynard, but the Tommies continued to battle and were rewarded when Spencer MacDonald beat Terriault low on the power play. Connor Sanvido followed suit 30 seconds later, cutting the Tommies' deficit to 4-3.

"It says a lot about the character of the guys when the playoffs seem like they're not a possibility, but they're out there playing for more than that," McAllister said of his team's persistence in the game. "They're playing to continue growing, we're playing for pride, and we're playing to represent the university well."

Ben Duffy restored the Huskies three-goal lead on the power play at 4:55. Down 5-3, the Tommies pressured and pulled Teichmann with two minutes to go for the extra attacker. 

SMU's Gerrad Grant scored on the empty net with 34.9 on the clock to secure the win for the Huskies.

Terriault made 27 saves for the Huskies, while Teichmann turned away 32 shots in the loss. 

Beyers was named the AUS Subway Player of the Game, while STU's Sanvido and SMU's Pereira were named the game's second and third star, respectively. photo credit Shawn Murphy