The X-Women hockey team completed a three-game exhibition trip to Ontario with a 2-1 record. They earned wins over Guelph (4-3) and Toronto (5-4) and dropped a 1-0 decision to Waterloo.
Thursday evening in Clinton, Ont., the blue and white defeated the University of Guelph by a 4-3 score. Goal scorers in the game were Sarah Bujold (Riverview, NB), freshman defense Amy Graham (Nepean, ON), Lydia Schurman (Summerside, PE) and Kate Gotaas (Sherwood Park, AB). The X-Women outshot the OUA team 32-27.
Friday night in Waterloo, they played a close game with the Waterloo Warriors losing 1-0. The lone goal came late in the first period from Waterloo's Alison Hanson. Shots favored the Warriors by a slim 26-25 margin.
Saturday afternoon in Toronto the X-Women overcame a 3-1 first period deficit to defeat the Varsity Blues 5-4. Kristen McKinley (Rothesay, NB) scored for StFX in the first period and Nicole Halladay (Smiths Falls, ON) pulled them to within a goal with a second period marker.
After another Toronto goal, Bujold scored shorthanded late in the second period as the X-Women were down 4-3. The reigning U SPORTS player of the year, Bujold then tied it up with a power play marker 4:20 into the third period. Daley Oddy (Cranbrook, BC) notched the game winner less than 30 seconds later and the X-Women held on for the win.
Shots favored the Varsity Blues 30-28.
Reflecting on the exhibition games, X-Women head coach Ben Berthiaume commented, "The ladies fought extremely hard all weekend, even when we were down they kept pushing. It's a great sign when you have a team that could easily take the easy route and quit, but they didn't, we kept battling and pushing each other to get better."
The games mark the end of pre-season competition for the X-Women. They will play their first AUS regular season game on Friday, October 13th when they host the St. Thomas Tommies. Puck drop is 7:00 pm at the StFX Keating Centre.