Antigonish, NS - The U SPORTS No. 5 ranked StFX X- Women kept the opposition scoreless through two periods to defeat the visiting Mount Allison Mounties 4-1 Saturday afternoon at the Charles V. Keating Centre during their final game of the fall term.
StFX opened the scoring only 37 seconds into the first 20 minutes of play with a goal from veteran forward Sarah Bujold (Riverview, NB). X-Women captain Daley Oddy (Cranbrook, BC) started a strong first shift with a pass to Santana Gravelle (Lumsden, SK) who took a shot from the point. Bujold was able to tip the shot past Mount Allison goaltender Keri Martin (Brampton, ON) to add her first of two tallies in the game.
Shots in the first period favoured StFX 13 to 6.
StFX carried their momentum into the second period, scoring just 22 seconds in. Emerson Elliott (Aurora, ON) led the breakout from the StFX zone with a cross ice pass to Oddy. Oddy carried the puck up the wing before passing it to Bujold who was skating hard through the slot. Bujold then shovelled the puck across the goal line and added her second goal of the afternoon.
Shots in the second period favoured StFX 20-1.
The games final frame saw three goals, the first coming from the X-Women at the 8:50 mark. From the point, Nicole Halladay (Smith Falls, ON) passed to Kristen McKinley (Rothesay, NB) who was stationed at the hash marks. McKinley outmanoeuvred Mounties forward Caitlin McCabe (Renous, NB) then walked in and fired it past Martin, just as a slashing penalty against Mounties forward Abby Beale (Sackville, NB) expired.
Under two minutes later StFX's Brooke Noseworthy (St. Anthony, NL) scored StFX's final goal of the game after going top shelf on Martin off a backhanded shot. Credited with assists on the goal were Gravelle and Emily Power (Airdrie, AB).
Adding their first and only marker of the game, Mounties forward Jessica Campbell (Winnipeg, MB) out-skated two StFX players to score an unassisted goal, finally solving X-Women goaltender Cassidy McEwan (Lloydminster, AB) with only 1:16 left on the clock.
Final shots favored the X-Women at 51-13 as freshman netminder McEwan earned her second win of the season between the pipes for StFX.
Subway player of the game and first star honours was awarded to Sarah Bujold for her strong performance and two-goal game. StFX defense Santana Gravelle and Mounties forward Heather Richards (St. Anthony, NL) were named second and third stars, respectively.
Opening the game was a ceremonial puck drop by women's hockey legend Justine Blainey-Broker, known not only for her abilities on the ice but also for her fight for women's right to play hockey in Ontario. Blainey-Broker, on campus for a talk she will be hosting Sunday evening at 6:30 in the Schwartz Auditorium entitled "How to beat the checks in life", was met with cheers and applause from the crowd and the players.
The X-Women wrap up the first half od the season with an 11-1-2 record and 24 points in first place in the AUS standings, three points ahead of Saint Mary's. They resume AUS regular season play on January 5th when they visit Moncton for a 7:00 pm game. The Mounties will also play January 5th when they face off against UPEI on home ice.
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Courtesy Kiana Pace, StFX Sports Information