Tipoff scores SO winner Huskies win over STU

The St. Thomas Tommies earned one point in the AUS men's hockey standings after falling 6-5 in a shootout to the Saint Mary's Huskies, Friday night in front of 569 spectators at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

Matt Tipoff, who scored the shootout-winner, and Michael D'Orazio each had three assists for the Huskies, while Steven Shipley and Stephen Johnston both had two points.

JC Campagna had three points for the Tommies and Eric Diodati had two.

"The only part I am disappointed with was the loss," Tommies head coach Pat Powers said after the game. "I was very proud of the way everyone played."

The Tommies were the first to hit the score sheet with Zach Hall beating SMU's netminder Cole Cheveldave five hole on the power play for a 1-0 lead.

The Huskies generated seven shots on goal but Phillippe Trudeau stood tall between the pipes for the Tommies, maintaining their one goal lead after 20 minutes.

The second brought on a flood of goals.

Saint Mary's scored two quick goals to start the frame—one on the power play from Stephen Johnston and one even-strength from Jeff Marchand.

The Tommies bounced back with back-to-back goals of their own. The first came off the stick of Shane McColgan, his first as a Tommie, and the second came from Rankyn Campbell, who put STU up 3-2.

Campagna extended the Tommies' lead to 4-2 at 6:48, finishing top corner to end Cheveldave's night in net. Anthony Peters took over the job and turned away the rest of the shots in the period.

SMU capitalized on the power play twice before the end of the frame—Johnston netted his second of the night at 14:28 and Steven Shipley redirected a shot to the back of the net to tie the game 4-4 heading into the third.

Powers was proud of the way his team continued to battle, despite the strong push from the Huskies.

"It is good to see at this point in the season that we are starting to develop and say 'we are a good team in this league and we can make our own breaks.'"

Campagna buried his second of the night on the power play midway through the third to put the Tommies up 5-4. The Huskies wouldn't quit, though, and Shipley tallied his second for SMU to tie the game and force overtime.

The extra frame solved nothing, so the game had to be decided in a shootout. Tipoff scored the game-winner in the fifth round.

The Tommies are back in action Saturday when they host the St. Francis Xavier X-men at 7 pm. Saint Mary's will travel to Prince Edward Island where they will take on the UPEI Panthers. 

Source STU Communications

Photo Shawn Murphy