Antigonish, NS – The StFX X-Women would like to have the opening three minutes of the second period back. That's all the UNB Reds needed as they scored a pair of goals and hung on for a 2-1 win Saturday night at the Charles V. Keating Centre.
Kendra Woodland (Kamloops, BC) was stellar in the Reds nets, turning aside 38 pucks for the win.
The first period saw each team exchange scoring chances but both were held off the scoresheet.
The Reds had an early four-minute power play opportunity but were unable to score.
The X-Women pressured late in the period firing shots on the Reds net, but Woodland held her ground. Lindsey Donovan (Mirimichi, NB) had a great chance in tight but was turned aside by Woodland.
StFX outshot the Reds 13-9 in the opening period.
The Reds turned the game around with two quick second period goals scored in the opening three minutes.
Ashley Stratton (Mount Pearl, NF) shoveled in a loose puck in front of the X net after Jamie Johnson (Victoria, BC) made a pair of initial saves but could not corral the rebound.
Katherine Chadwick (Kanata, ON) also capitalized on a rebound to score the Reds second goal.
The X-Women pressured for the remainder of the period but were unable to solve Woodland. She stopped Tyra Meropoulis (Edson, AB) on a nice chance with five minutes left and again on a Lydia Schurman (Summerside, PE) shot late in the period.
The Reds almost made it 3-0 when Emma Borbandy (Langdon, AB) rang one off the cross bar, but the X-Women escaped down two goals after 40 minutes, having outshot the visitors 10-6 in the period.
Patti-Anne Tracey (Antigonish, NS) nearly got the X-Women on board with a breakaway attempt four minutes into the third period but was stopped by Woodland.
While fighting off another four-minute penalty, Meropoulis got the X-Women on the board with a shorthanded marker at 8:47. She stole a puck off a Reds player trying to break out of the zone, skated in and ripped a high shot past Woodland.
The X-Women kept the momentum going throughout the third period but Woodland was a wall in the UNB net.
StFX pressured with the extra attacker after pulling Johnson from the net with a minute and a half left to play but could not score the equalizer.
Woodland finished with 38 saves on the night and earned first star and Subway player of the game honours.
X-Women defense Santana Gravelle (Lumsden, SK) was the second star and UNB's Chadwick was third star.
Final shots in the game were 39-17 for StFX.
With the win the Reds improve to 4-2 on the season. The X-Women are also 4-2, now tied with the Reds for third place in the AUS standings.
UNB next sees action on Wednesday, October 23rd when they host cross-town rival St. Thomas in a 7:00 pm game.
The X-Women will next play at Mount Allison on Friday night, October 23rd.
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Courtesy Krista McKenna, StFX Sports Information