Duggan scores twice as Huskies finish regular season with 6-1 win over Tommies
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Mary's (19-9-0, 19-9-0) | 1 | 4 | 1 | 6 |
|
St. Thomas (8-19-0, 8-19-0) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
FREDERICTON, NB – Saint Mary's forward Jillian Duggan scored a pair of goals, as the Huskies defeated the St. Thomas Tommies 6-1 on Saturday night at the Grant-Harvey Centre in Fredericton.
It was the Huskies who struck first on a first period powerplay, as star forward Shae Demale (Red Deer, AB) cycled the puck behind the Tommies goal and found defender Eve LeBlanc open in front, where she made no mistake, burying a shot past Tommies goaltender Caroline Pietroski (Etobicoke, ON) to put the visitors up 1-0. LeBlanc, a fourth year defender who celebrated her senior night last weekend, score her fifth career goal in her 93rd and final regular season AUS game.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 11, 2023
Shae Demale sets up Ève LeBlanc for a powerplay marker and @SMUHuskiesWH leads 1-0 after the first period.
��E. LeBlanc (2)
��S. Demale pic.twitter.com/so8RzWr3Ad
The Huskies outshot the Tommies 11-6 in the first period, but Pietroski was solid in goal with 10 saves.
In the second period, the Huskies offence exploded for four goals.
First it was forward Jillian Duggan (Halifax, NS), who banged home a rebound off a deflection from forward Kate Gallant (Brooklin, ON), doubling the Huskies lead to 2-0 just 6:39 into the second period.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 12, 2023
Jillian Duggan scores on the rebound to extend the @SMUHuskiesWH lead to 2-0.
��J. Duggan (4)
��K. Gallant
��E. LeBlanc pic.twitter.com/uJipqmGjTZ
Less than two minutes later the Tommies got a goal back, when defender Brooke Stanford (Whitby, ON) scored a powerplay goal.
Just 90 seconds later, the Huskies would restore their two goal lead, as forward Mary McDonald (Calgary, AB), made a great centering pass onto the stick of first-year forward Abby McCarthy (Falmouth, NS), who beat Pietroski for her second goal of the season.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 12, 2023
Mary McDonald with a great deliver to Abby McCarthy who puts @SMUHuskiesWH up 3-1 in the second period!
��A. McCarthy (2)
��M. McDonald pic.twitter.com/CPcClWFnuB
The Huskies second period momenteum continued as forward Ashley Penney (Lawerencetown, NS) took a pass from linemate Erin Denny (Eskasoni, NS) on a three-on-one break, and beat Pietroski for her third goal of the campaign.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 12, 2023
The Denny-Penney connection strikes again! Erin finds Ashley on a three-on-one and Penney scores to extend the @SMUHuskiesWH lead to 4-1.
��A. Penney (3)
��E. Denny pic.twitter.com/DfpfU4UalP
Duggan scored her second of the game after Aimee O'Neill (Glace Bay, NS) collected a rebound and shovelled a no-look pass to Duggan, who deposited her second goal of the night to extend the lead to 5-1.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 12, 2023
Aimee O'Neill feeds Jillian Duggan for her second goal of the period, and @SMUHuskiesWH lead 5-1 heading into the third period.
��J. Duggan (5)
��A. O'Neill
��K. Gallant pic.twitter.com/zSPCxH5X5D
The Tommies defence would tighten up in the third period, limiting the Huskies chances. St. Thomas found themselves on a powerplay before the speed of Huskies star forward Shae Demale (Red Deer, AB) took over, as the 2022 AUS MVP stole the puck and turned on the jets, firing a high shot past Pietroski for a shorthanded goal.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 12, 2023
Shae Demale scores a shorthanded breakaway goal in her last @AUS_SUA regular season game!
��S. Demale (19) pic.twitter.com/YrB1PPfZ4S
Demale's 19th goal of the season (second in the AUS) also marked the 57th regular season goal of her AUS career - tying her with Breanne Lanceleve for the fourth most regular season goals in Huskies women's hockey history.
Huskies forward Jillian Duggan was named Subway Player of the Game with two goals, while Shae Demale (one goal, one assist), Eve LeBlanc (one goal, one assist), Kate Gallant (two assists) and Erin Denny (two assists) also recorded multi-point nights for the Huskies.
The Huskies outshot the Tommies 40-22 on the night, with goaltenders Sophie Scully (Ottawa, ON), and Ashley Imlach (Newtonville, ON) splitting duties and stopping 21 of 22 shots faced. Pietroski made 34 saves on 40 shots for the Tommies.
The Huskies finish the regular season with an 18-9-1 record (37 points) good for third in the AUS. They'll host the Moncton Aigles Bleues in the quarterfinal, with game one scheduled to be played Tuesday, Feb. 14 at the Dauphinee Centre (7 p.m. puck-drop). GET TICKETS
The Tommies finish the regular season with a 8-18-2 record, missing out on the playoffs with a seventh-place finish.
