Huskies top Tigers 4-1 in Tomstrong game

The Saint Mary's University Huskies defeated their cross-town rival Dalhousie University Tigers 4-1 on Saturday night in the final regular season game,  at the Halifax Forum in Halifax,  NS.

It was TomStrong night in the Halifax Forum in honour of the Huskies assistant coach Tom Lee.  The Huskies and Tigers teamed up to raise money in the Halifax community for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada.  Saint Mary's has raised over $44,000 over the last three years.  At the start of the game $10,000 had already been raised for the 2017 tilt. 

The Huskies finish the regular season with a 15-14-1 record. Their 31-points sends them into the AUS playoffs as the fourth seed.

The Tigers end their 2016-17 season with an 8-19-3 record. Their 19-points has them outside the AUS playoff picture.

Cole Cheveldave (Calgary, AB) made 25 saves to pick up the win for the Huskies. He improved his record to 7-9.

Hunter Garlent (Thorold, ON) (17, 18), Aaron Berisha (3) and Michael Curtis (Georgetown, ON) (3) lit the lamp for the Huskies (Curtis was credited with Berisha's second).

Garlent added an assist to finish second in AUS scoring with 45-points in just his first season.

Jesse Lussier (Ottawa, ON) (3) scored for the Tigers.

Joe Gladnick (Philadelphia, PA) made 30 saves for the Tigers as his record fell to 0-6.

Lussier opened the scoring on the power play just 2:05 into the game. Phil Gadoury (Montreal, QC) got the puck in the right corner and sent it to Lussier on the point.  Lussier walked the line into the centre of the ice and ripped a wrist shot through traffic high glove side.

Garlent evened it up at 1-1 at the 5:47 mark of the first. Kyle Pereira (Brampton, ON) cleared the puck out of the Huskies zone and Connor McGlynn (Oakville, ON) got in on the fore-check in the right corner of the Tigers zone.  The puck squirted free to Garlent in the slot and he made a move to his forehand and flipped it in over the outstretched pad of Gladnick.

Garlent's second made it 2-1 just 1:12 later. Bradley Latour (Barrie, ON) made a slick backhand pass in the neutral zone to spring Aaron Berisha (Mississauga, ON) and Garlent on a two-on-one.  Berisha fed Garlent who caught the puck at the top of the left circle and loaded up a wrist shot he fired from the middle of the circle high glove.

Berisha gave the Huskies a two-goal lead 5:50 into the third. Curtis sent the puck to Garlent all alone at the bottom of the right circle.  Garlent stick handled a few times before making a cross crease feed to Berisha that he buried.

Berisha pushed it to 4-1 at the 10:53 mark of the third. Latour flipped the puck across the neutral zone from the Huskies blue line to Berisha on the right wing.  Berisha carried into the Tigers zone and dropped for Curtis.  Curtis got it right back to Berisha in the slot and he wired a slap shot high blocker.

The Tigers were one for six on the power play, while the Huskies were zero for six.

Shots were 34-26 for the Huskies.

Up Next:

The Tigers will be back in the 2017-18 season.

The Huskies will host the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers on Wednesday, February 15 at the Halifax Forum for game one of their AUS quarterfinal series.  The series will continue in Charlottetown on Friday for game two and game three will be Sunday, February 19^th at the Forum, if necessary. 

By Cam Honey-Webb, SMU Communications

Photo Nick Pearce