Fredericton, NB - The U SPORTS No. 1 ranked STFX X-Women scored four straight third period goals to erase a St. Thomas Tommies lead and win 5-3 Friday night at the Grant-Harvey Centre.
The first period was a wildfire of shots and two goals, one each for both teams. Martina Barclay (Mount Albert, ON) started the scoring off quick with her first of the season, putting the Tommies ahead early.
StFX would not stay quiet as they responded quickly with a beauty of their own in the slot from Lauran Dabrowski (Tiny, ON) to knot the game at one.
The remainder of the period would have both teams battling for the lead but leaving the first tied one goal each.
The second period continued much like the first with plenty of shots and scoring opportunities. The Tommies started the scoring halfway through the second with a tight tucked goal by Claire Nimegeers (Wilcox, SK).
St. Thomas scored one more giving them a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.
The third would prove to be the toughest for both teams as they started off rough with penalties on both ends. These penalties would come with a cost.
A little over the halfway mark in the period during a StFX powerplay the Tommies allowed a goal with one second left on their penalty, cutting their lead to one. From then on StFX mounted an offensive assault causing immense pressure on the Tommies.
That pressure would be the end of the St. Thomas lead and their chances at victory. StFX scored with the goalie pulled late in the third period, courtesy of Maggy Burbidge, to tie the game at 3-3.
They shortly followed up with another goal in the slot to steal the game from the Tommies as Abby Lewis tallied the game winner from Tyra Meropolis with 1:20 left in the game.
Meropoulis added an insurance marker for X as the game ended 5-3 in favor of the X-Women, as the Tommies buckled under pressure in the dying minutes.
Both Tommies' goalie, Caroline Pietroski (Etobicoke, ON) and StFX's Amaya Girauder (Assiniboia, SK) had stellar games, standing on their heads keeping their respective teams in contention.
"We proved that we can beat a team like X, we just need to play three consistent periods," said Tommies team captain Alexandra Woods (Courtice, ON).
The Tommies will next see action against Moncton on Saturday, Nov 6th.
StFX's next game comes against UNB at home on Saturday, Nov 13th.
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Recap courtesy Brock Johnson, STU Sports Information