The CIS ranked No. 4 X-Women played a solid road game Sunday afternoon and defeated CIS No. 5 Moncton 5-2 in a marquee match-up between the top two AUS women’s hockey team. Alex Normore added to her lead league in points, helping the blue and white with 1 goal and 2 assists in the game, while Janelle Parent netted two goals for the X-Women.
The win marked the first time the X-Women defeated the Aigles Bleues this season as Moncton took two games from StFX in November.
After losing 4-1 to the St. Thomas Tommies the day before, it was important for StFX to have a good start to this game, and they did just that. Jessica McCullough scored a power play goal at the 4:32 mark of the first period to open the scoring, with Normore picking up her first assist of the game. Erin Brophy cushioned the lead to 2-0 for the X-Women at the 10:34 mark, assisted by Sadie Whaley, as the two-goal lead held after one period of play.
The teams traded two goals apiece in the second period as the game started to open up. Moncton’s Janick Robichaud netted a power play marker at 2:27, with assists going to Johannie Thibeau and Marie-Pier Arsenault, to cut the lead to one and get the home side on the board. The momentum for Moncton would stop there however, as Janelle Parent scored two quick goals for StFX three minutes apart. Suzanne Fenerty assisted on the first Parent goal, while Brittney Perkins and Alex Normore picked up helpers on the second one, as the X-Women went up 4-1.
Before the second period was over, Aigles Bleues Marie-Michelle Poirier scored at the 15:51 mark from Amelia Dion, to make things interesting with a 4-2 score heading into the third period.
The final period was a very tight checking affair, with both teams unwilling to give up an inch on the ice. The period remained scoreless until four seconds left in the game when Normore collected her third point of the afternoon and league leading 37th point of the season, on an unassisted empty net goal to seal the 5-2 win for the X-Women.
The shots on net were very close, with StFX outshooting Moncton by a slim 31-30 margin. Kristy Garrow stopped 28 shots in the X-Women goal while Jenna Van Belois and Kathy Desjardins combined for 26 saves for Moncton.
The StFX performance was a much improved showing coming off a disappointing 4-1 loss to the St. Thomas Tommies the previous day in Fredericton.
Tommies goaltender Julia Sharun played an outstanding game for the home team, turning aside 42 X-Women shots. St. Thomas netted four goals on only 16 total shots on net.
Their first goal came from Cassidy McTaggart at the 8:56 mark of the first period, from Jenna Scott. They increased their lead to 2-0 heading into the second period after Brianne Bohn scored unassisted at 10:49 of the first period.
The second period brought no scoring from either squad. Janelle Parent pulled the X-Women to within a goal as she scored off an Alex Normore puck 1:58 into the third period. Tommies Jordan Miller quickly regained the two-goal advantage 28 seconds later with an unassisted marker, then Kayla Blackmore sealed the victory with a late power play goal at 19:09.
After the 1-1 weekend, the X-Women remain in first place in the AUS conference with a 14-3-0 record and 28 points, only one up on second place Moncton (13-2-1). Both have clinched AUS playoff berths. Next on the StFX schedule is a Saturday afternoon game on January 28th at the StFX Keating Centre as the sixth place Dalhousie Tigers (5-9-2) will be in town for a 2:00 pm game. The Aigles Bleues will travel to Sackville, N.B. to take on the fourth place Mount Allison Mounties (7-5-3) on Sunday, January 29th.