Huskies fall 4-2 to Tommies

(Fredericton, NB) The St. Thomas Tommies defeated the Saint Mary's University Huskies 4-2 on Sunday afternoon at the Grant-Harvey Centre.  The victory completed a perfect opening weekend for the Tommies, who went 2-0 to start the year. 

"It's nice to get these wins at the start of the year, rather than trying to get them at the end," captain Kelty Apperson said after the game. 

Tommies goaltender Taylor Cook shined in the win, making 31 saves in her first start of the season. 

"She was excellent at finding the puck through traffic today, and I was very happy with that," head coach Peter Murphy said.

The first period was an even period, despite the Huskies outshooting the Tommies 9-2. It was the special teams that ended up playing a factor in the first 20 minutes. 

Saint Mary's scored first on a shorthanded breakaway by Caitlyn Schell, who made a great move to slide the puck past Cook to give the Huskies the early lead.  Four minutes later, Becky Conner tied it up off of a gorgeous tip to tie the game 1-1. 

"I thought we played good with the puck in the first period, and it was nice to see us get one on the power play late," Murphysaid. 

St. Thomas was outplayed heavily in the second period and was outshot 16-4 in the process. Coach Murphy praised the Huskies for their efforts in the frame, saying it was completely one sided. 

Despite only generating four shots, the Tommies were able to score on two them. The first was from Emily Francis, who finished off a great pass from Alisha Gilbert, and the second came from Apperson, who notched her first of the year.

The Huskies were able to cut the lead in half late in the second when Laura Polak put a rebound past a sprawling Cook to make it a 3-2 game heading into the final frame.

The Tommies got off to a hot start in the third, but were unable to beat McIntosh. It wasn't until there was less than two minutes to go that Lauren Henman scored off of a beautiful rush, putting the game away. 

Despite being outshot 33-14, the Tommies secured the 4-2 win.

"The big thing with Henman was getting her out of her comfort zone, and she has been amazing without the puck so far this year," Murphy said. "Both goals she scored this weekend were hard working goals, and really important goals. We really think she's developing into a top player."

Source, Robert Johnson, photo credit Shawn Murphy