Halifax, NS – In a battle of the top two teams in AUS women's hockey, it was the StFX X-Women who came out on top with a 3-1 victory over the Saint Mary's Huskies Saturday night at SMU Alumni Arena.
The win moves the U SPORTS No. 6 ranked X-Women (8-1-2) into first place by single point over the No. 2 ranked Huskies (8-1-2).
The majority of the scoring took place in the first period. Freshman Huskies forward Caitlin Pejkovic (Sherwood Park, AB) got the home team on the board just over seven minutes into the game. Leandra Timmerman (Rathwell, MB) brought the puck into the StFX zone and passed in front to Pejkovic who made a hard shot on net. X-Women goaltender Carley Molnar (London, ON) got her blocker on it but the puck squeezed past her and crossed the goal line.
Emily Power (Airdrie, AB) evened it up five minutes later and she tallied for the X-Women. Lydia Schurman from behind the Huskies net found the open Power in the slot and she made no mistake beating Rebecca Clark (Keswick, ON).
With 2:40 left in the opening period X-Women freshman forward Emerson Elliott (Aurora, ON) scored her sixth goal of the season, connecting with linemates Daley Oddy (Cranbrooke, BC) and Sarah Bujold (Riverview, NB). After continued X pressure in the SMU zone, Elliott jumped on a loose rebound off Bujold's shot to give the X-Women a 2-1 lead.
It was a lead that held through the remainder of the game as both teams had their chances to score in the second and third periods but could not find the back of the net.
Kristen McKinley (Rothesay, NB) added an empty net goal while shorthanded with only 30 seconds left in the game to seal the victory for StFX.
Shots on goal were in the X-Women's favor at 31-22 as Molnar earned the win in nets. StFX's Elliott received Subway player of the game honours.
The X-Women will be back in action on Sunday afternoon when they host Moncton in a 2:00 pm game at the StFX Keating Centre. The Huskies also play on Sunday afternoon. They will face-off at 3:00 pm when they host UPEI.
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Courtesy StFX Sports Information