Huskies Down Tommies 5-1 to Win AUS Women’s Hockey Championship

(Halifax, NS). The Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the St. Thomas Tommies 5-1 in the third and deciding game of their AUS women's hockey final Tuesday night at Alumni Arena to win their fifth AUS championship and first since 2009-10.

The Huskies got on the board first when, Caitlyn Manning (Cambridge, ON) scored off a beautiful end to end rush, weaving through several Tommies players before putting it home from the slot at 10:16 to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead. The rest of the first period saw a continuation of the intensity, speed, and excitement that is a trademark of playoff hockey as the first period came to a close.

In the second period, Saint Mary's lit the lamp again when Nicole Blanche (Dunville, NL) tallied off a great pass in front at 14:34 to make it 2-0. The Huskies kept it up when Laura Polak (Bedford, NS) potted a marker off a screened point shot at 16:46 on the powerplay to make it 3-0. The pace of play and determined efforts on the part of both teams did not stop despite the Huskies having a three goal lead after two periods.

Thr third saw Saint Mary's extend their lead further when, AUS playoff MVP, Caitlyn Schell (Waterford, ON) scored from the slot at 5:42 on the powerplay to get it to 4-0. The Tommies looked to start a comeback when Kenya Marcelline(Whitby, ON) tallied off a wild scramble at 8:48 on the powerplay to narrow the deficit to 4-1. The Huskies however snuffed out all hope when Schell got her second of the game off a tipped point shot at 16:36 on the powerplay, rounding out a solid three for four powerplayperformance for Saint Mary's, to seal the title and finish off a fantastic season. 

The Subway player of the game for the huskies was the Breanna Lanceleve, (Middle Sackville, NS) who had three assists and #22 Marcelline for the STU. 

The Huskies outshot the Tommies 24-22. Rebecca Clark (Keswick, ON) made 21 saves to get the win for the Huskies, while Taylor Cook (Brantford, ON) stopped 19 shots in goal for the Tommies.

Despite the outcome of the finals, both teams advance to the CIS Championships in Calgary March 17th to 20th. They will joined by the Montreal Carabin, Guelph Gryphons, UBC Thunderbirds, host Calgary Dinos, Western Mustangs, and the McGill Martlets. The schedule for the tournament has yet to be announced.

SMU communications, photo nick Pearce