Huskies fall 4-2 to Tommies

(Fredericton, NB)  The St. Thomas Tommies snapped their four game losing streak by defeating the first place Saint Mary's Huskies 4-2, Saturday afternoon at the Grant Harvey Centre.

With the win, the Tommies put an end to the Huskies' 10-game winning streak. 

The Huskies outplayed St. Thomas in the first, but STU netminder Abby Clarke kept them in it with two incredible saves.  The Tommies were outshot 9-3 in the period but the game was scoreless after 20 minutes. 

"Clarke played great in that first period, making a couple of huge saves that really kept our team in it," Tommies head coach Peter Murphy said.

St. Thomas came out firing in the second period and opened the scoring on a two-on-one when Stephanie Ford made a great pass to Marina Sergina, who scored on a one-timer.  Ten minutes later, the Tommies scored on their first and only powerplay when Teah Anderson found the loose puck in the crease and buried it to give St. Thomas a two-goal advantage. Thirty seconds later, Lauren Henman tipped one past Huskies goaltender Rebecca Clark to give the home team a 3-0 lead. 

With less than a minute left in the frame, Nicole Blanche scored for the Huskies to cut the deficit to two and give her team some momentum heading into the third. 

"The second period was one of our best periods of the season. Although they didn't score I thought the line of Alisha Gilbert, Emily Francis and Danielle Ring made a huge difference in that period. They were outstanding," Murphy said.

Caitlyn Manning scored seven minutes into the third to make it a one goal game, but the Tommies responded with seven minutes to go with an insurance marker from Caley Steinert to make it 4-2.

The Tommies are back in action Sunday as they play host to the Dalhousie Tigers.