London, ON – The StFX X-Women defeated the Queen's Gaels 4-3 in overtime Saturday afternoon in the U SPORTS consolation semifinal game.
Veteran fifth year forward Daley Oddy, the 2018 U SPORTS player of the year, led the X-Women with a hat trick, including the game winner 2:37 into overtime. Linemate Sarah Bujold assisted on all three of Oddy's goals.
The win was a confidence booster for the X-Women after a lopsided 8-1 loss in the quarterfinals the night before. Following the game Oddy noted, "We're not a team that gets down too easy, we refocused and wanted to play and wanted to win today and that's what we did."
Oddy also scored the first goal of the game at the 12:23 mark of the first period. She picked up a puck from Bujold to streak in alone on a breakaway beating Queen's goaltender Stephanie Pascal.
Shots favored the X-Women 12-4 in the first period as they held an early 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.
The game was quickly tied when Clare McKellar got the Gaels on the board 1:03 into the second period, jumping on a rebound after X netminder Carley Molnar kicked out a rebound on a pad save.
Two minutes later defense Santana Gravelle blasted a shot from the point over the shoulder of Pascal to re-establish StFX's two-goal lead. Nicole Corcoran and Becky Higgs assisted on the goal.
Once again the Gaels answered as they netted it up again off a power play goal by Katrina Manoukarakis. StFX had their own power play opportunity late in the period but were unable to capitalize and the 2-2 score held after two periods.
StFX outshot the Gaels 15-9 in the middle period.
The third period saw more back and forth, fast paced action. Molnar made some key saves to keep the X-Women in the game, including stopping Gaels forward Bridgid Goris on a breakaway attempt seven minutes into the period.
Oddy once again found the back of the net for the X-Women just over 12 minutes into the third period as she fired off a quick shot after a face-off draw won by Bujold.
But the Gaels came right back as they did all game, tying it up with 4:31 left to play while on the power play. Addi Halladay was the goal scorer, tying the game at 4-4.
The score held up through the end of regulation, forcing the 10 minute, 4-on-4 overtime period.
Hailey Wilson almost ended it for the Gaels 30 second into the overtime period but was stopped on a breakaway by Molnar.
The game winner came from Oddy at 2:37 after she scooped up a rebound off a Gravelle shot from the point to put the puck past a sprawling Pascal.
The X-Women outshot the OUA finalists 47-21 in the game as they advance to the consolation final Sunday morning at 10:00 am EST. StFX will face the Montreal Carabins in the fifth place game.
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Courtesy StFX Sports Information