X-Women positive as AUS season resumes

The AUS women's hockey season resumes this weekend and the St. Francis Xavier X-Women will face the only two teams that have beaten them this season.

The X-Women return from a six-week Christmas break on the road Saturday against the St. Thomas Tommies and Sunday versus the Moncton Aigles Bleues.

St. F.X. (7-2-1) has lost twice to Moncton, including a 3-2 overtime decision on Oct. 26, and fell 4-1 to St. Thomas on Nov. 8. In fact, the loss to STU came the day after losing 2-1 to Moncton.

But for St. F.X. head coach David Synishin, those decisions further prove the parity in the Atlantic women’s conference, something that hasn’t really existed in the league’s nine-year history.

And that can only help the X-Women as they ready themselves as hosts of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship in March.

"(The losses to St. Thomas and Moncton) are only going to help us in the end," Synishin said.

"At past national championships, we had to get into positions where we had to compete a lot harder than what we were prepared for. You want to peak at the end of the season so hopefully we’ll do that."

The defending league champions, who went undefeated in 21 conference games last season, are in second place. However, they trail league-leading Moncton (11-0) by seven points and are only a point ahead of Dalhousie (7-4) and two up on St. Thomas (6-4-1).

Synishin characterized the X-Women’s first half as "up and down."

"There were times we didn’t play our best hockey," Synishin said.

"Every year, people say the league is getting better but this year is by far the best it’s ever been. There are four or five teams that are legitimate contenders for the conference title, which is really good because it’s showing us and others that if you don’t play your best hockey, you’re not going to win. That wasn’t always the case in the past. Hopefully we are saving our best hockey for the second half."

Story courtesy The Chronicle Herald