Aigles Bleues force third game

MONCTON – There will be a third and deciding game in the Subway Atlantic University Sport women's hockey 2 of 3 semi-final series as the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues (1-1) were 2-1 winners over Saint Mary's University Huskies (1-1), Saturday at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena, in the second game in front of over 440 spectators.

The third game will take place Monday evening in Halifax, at 7 p.m. The Huskies were 3-2 winners in the first encounter.

Marie-Pier Corriveau (Brittany Poitras, Katryne Villeneuve), at 7:56 of the first period, on a deflection on the power play, and Katherine Dubuc (Jennifer Arsenault), at 1:20 of the middle period, scored for the Aigles Bleues, that were behind 35-22 on shots on goal. Gabrielle Forget made 13 saves in the second and 12, in the third for the win. Hannah Askin did offer the visitors hope with the lone goal, with four minutes left to play in the game. Rebecca Clark made 20 well spaced saves between the periods.

''It was a very good game, we played well defensively in our zone and we stayed in our system of play,'' Moncton coach Denis Ross said following the game. ''They are still a very dangerous team and we need to polish our systems a bit. It will be a very difficult third game. Both teams know what it means. We must execute well. Janie Poitras did a god job a following their top player (Breanna) Lanceleve. (Gabrielle) Forget was solid and kept her focus for us. She did not panic and she had no chance on their lone goal, a fast and low shot. Leading 2-0, we did not want to play sluggish. We needed to support our attack and fore-check. It will be a similar game on Monday evening, I do not expect an explosion of goals.''

Per the author of the winning goal, Katherine Dubuc, the team had a mission to respect. "It was to our advantage,'' said Dubuc. "We were in their face all the game and we tried several different plays against their goaltender. We blocked shots and we played our lives. Following my winning goal, I was very happy because it was important at that time. We will play with the same determination on Monday and win another game. We really appreciated the support of the fans tonight, it was a very good energy for us."  

Katryne Villeneuve suffered a wrist injury, in the third period and her condition will only be known on Monday.

2017/02/25