The CIS ranked No. 9 X-Women hockey team is set to compete in exhibition action at the upcoming Theresa Humes Memorial Tournament at Concordia University in Montreal. Games are scheduled for January 2-4 at Ed Meagher Arena at Concordia's Loyola Campus.
Along with the host Concordia Stingers and the X-Women, also competing in the event are fellow AUS opponents Dalhousie and UPEI, along with Ottawa and Carleton from the RSEQ, Laurentian from the OUA and Plattsburgh State University of New York, who compete in the NCAA Eastern College Athletic Conference DIII West Division.
Tournament action gets underway Saturday, January 2nd when Dalhousie faces off against Laurentian at 10:00 am, followed by Concordia vs UPEI at 1:00 pm, Carleton vs Plattsburgh at 4:00 pm and the X-Women vs Ottawa at 7:00 pm.
Game times are the same on Sunday with the match-ups featuring UPEI-Carleton, Concordia-Dalhousie, Laurentian-StFX and Plattsburgh-Ottawa.
Monday's games will see StFX play Carleton at 10:00 am and Concordia vs Plattsburgh at 1:00 pm, both at the Ed Meagher Arena. UPEI-Laurentian and Ottawa-Dalhousie will play Monday also at 10am and 1pm but at the Samuel Moskovitch Arena in Montreal.
For the complete tournament schedule, visit http://stingers.ca/whockey/theresa_humes_tournament.php.
X-Women head coach David Synishin is looking forward to his team getting back on the ice, commenting, "This tournament will provide us with some great competition before the second half of our season begins."
The X-Women find themselves tied for third place with St. Thomas in the AUS conference as each team holds a 6-5-1 record and 13 points. Saint Mary's (10-2-0) and Moncton (7-5-0) are in first and second positions after the first half of the season.
Despite leading the league in total shots with 413, the X-Women have struggled to find the back of the net, averaging 2.50 goals per game. They are fourth in the AUS in total goals scored (30), and third in goals against (27).
Leading the X-Women in scoring is third year forward Daley Oddy from Cranbrooke, BC who has 15 points (6 goals, 9 assists), good enough for second overall in the conference. Fourth year forward Kara Power (New Glasgow, NS) has 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists) while second year forward Sarah Bujold (Riverview, NB) has nine points (5 goals, 4 assists).
Third year blueliner Heather Tillsley from Aurora, ON is the top X-Women defenseman in points with six assists to date. Pascale Daigle, in her third year from Irishtown, NB, has a 5-3-0 record for the X-Women in nets with a 2.29 GGA and a .893 save percentage.
Following the Concordia tournament, the X-Women resume AUS regular season action on Friday, January 8th when they host UPEI at 7:00 pm at the StFX Charles V. Keating Centre. They then travel to Sackville, NB for a 2:15 pm game against Mount Allison (5-7-0) on January 10th.
X-Women fans are reminded that tickets for all home games can be purchased at any time at the StFX Keating Centre box office or online through www.ticketatlantic.ca. Advance ticket rates are available up to two hours prior to game time and will save fans money at the door.
For the complete X-Women schedule, visit http://www.goxgo.ca/sports/wice/2015-16/schedule.