Antigonish, N.S. - The CIS #4-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies (14-5) skated to a convincing 4-1 win over the StFX X-Women (8-9-2) in AUS hockey action Wednesday night at the Keating Centre.
In a back-and-forth opening period, the X-Women garnered the first quality scoring chance of the game, when captain Taylor Dale (Oromocto, NB) got in tight against Justine McIntosh (East St. Paul, MA), but she could not beat the Huskies' goaltender on the short side.
At 2:29, Saint Mary's took a 1-0 lead on a great effort from Hayley Hallihan (Miramichi, NB), who skated off the side boards and beat Sojung Shin (Seoul, Korea) with a hard wrist shot high to the glove side. Huskies captain Breanna Lanceleve (Middle Sackville, NS) and Carly Gray (Williamswood, NS) notched the assists.
Looking to double the advantage, Caitlyn Manning (Cambridge, ON) ripped a shot from the circle, but Shin made a nifty pad save, before stopping Nicole Blanche (Dunville, NL) on the rebound.
The X-Women tied the contest at the 5:19 mark, when Daley Oddy (Cranbrook, BC) came off the side boards and beat McIntosh with a shot from the face-off circle. Her line-mates - Dale and Kara Power (New Glasgow, NS) - collected the helpers.
With just more than five minutes remaining in the first period, Oddy took a feed and split the Huskies defense, before dropping off a pass to Power, but McIntosh made the save.
Less than one minute later, Saint Mary's had a great chance to take the lead, but Shin turned aside Blanche and Caitlyn Schell (Waterford, ON) on back-to-back shots.
In a dominant second period, the Huskies out-shot the X-Women 18-1, while tallying the only two goals of the frame.
At 3:44, on a great individual play from Schell, the Huskies took a 2-1 advantage. On a rush down the right wing, the senior forward had her first shot blocked by X-Women defender Heather Tillsley (Aurora, ON), while Shin turned aside her rebound attempt on the short side. Schell then regained possession and scored on a wrap-around shot. Sarah Douglas (Whitby, ON) chipped in the only assist on the highlight reel effort.
Lanceleve gave the visitors a two-goal edge at the 9:43 mark, when she deposited a rebound behind Shin. Mary Worndl (Kitchener, ON) and Hallihan assisted on the Huskies' third marker.
In the third period, the Huskies continued to carry the play, with Blanche extending the lead to 4-1 at the 8:31 mark. She completed a tic-tac-toe passing play with her line-mates Manning and Schell. She roofed a backhanded re-direction over Shin's right shoulder.
McIntosh made 21 saves for the win, while Shin turned aside 41 shots in the loss.
The Subway player of the game and first star was Schell, while Hallihan and Manning collected second and third star selections, respectively.
The X-Women will return to action Saturday, Jan. 30, when they travel to Fredericton to face the St. Thomas Tommies at 3 p.m.
The Huskies will be back on the ice Sunday, Jan. 31, when they host the rival Dalhousie Tigers at 2 p.m.
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