The X-Women hockey team closed out the AUS regular season with a 2-1 win over Saint Mary’s and a close 3-2 overtime loss to Dalhousie.

On Saturday evening in Antigonish, the X-Women had goals off the sticks of freshman Brittney Perkins and second year forward Sidney Ritchie as they held on for a 2-1 win over the visiting Saint Mary’s Huskies.

Perkins’ goal came 8:35 into the second period as Jessica Shanahan and Abygail Laking assisted on the play. Ritchie notched a power play marker 1:24 into the third period. Jenna Downey and Leah Boucher earned assists.

Lauren McCusker scored a power play goal for Saint Mary’s with 2:25 left in the game but that would be their only one as the X-Women outshot the Huskies 33-22 en route to the win.

Veteran StFX netminder Katie Harvieux earned the win in nets for X while Jillian MacIsaac took the loss for Saint Mary’s.

Needing a win over Dalhousie and a Moncton loss to St. Thomas on Sunday afternoon to clinch first spot overall in the AUS, the X-Women received neither, as they fell 3-2 in overtime to Dalhousie and Moncton beat St. Thomas 3-1 in Fredericton.

The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the game with second period goals from Fielding Montgomery and Rebecca Sweet, but the X-Women fought back to earn a 2-2 tie by the end of regulation play.

Carolyn Campbell scored at the 8:55 minute mark of the third period and veteran X defender Laura Grant notched an unassisted power play goal for the equalizer at 14:32. Daniela Falconia assisted on the Campbell goal.

The overtime hero was Robin Mullen who scored 3:42 into the extra frame as Jocelyn LeBlanc earned the helper. 

The Tigers held the margin in shots at 40 to 25 as goaltender Emelie Ederfors earned the win for Dalhousie. Katie Harvieux suffered the loss for the X-Women.

With the three points gained on the weekend for StFX, they close out the AUS regular season with an 18-2-4 record and 40 points, good enough for second spot, three points back of the first place Moncton Aigles Bleues (21-2-1), who will be hosting the AUS championship this weekend.

The women’s final features a change in format this season, mirroring the format of the CIS championship over a four-day period with pool play. Pool A consists of Moncton (1), St. Thomas (4) and UPEI (6) while Pool B is StFX (2), Saint Mary’s (3) and Dalhousie (5). On Thursday the top seeded Aigles Bleues and X-Women will both play, with the winners resting until Saturday and the losers playing again on Friday night. At 3:00 pm on Thursday the X-Women will take on Dalhousie, followed by Moncton and UPEI at 7:00 pm.

Saint Mary’s will meet the losing team from the X-Tigers game at 3:00 on Friday, followed by St. Thomas and the loser from Moncton-UPEI at 7:00. Saint Mary’s and Dalhousie will play the winning teams from Thursday on Saturday, also at 3:00 and 7:00 pm. The top teams from each pool will meet in the championship game slated for Sunday at 2:00 pm. All games will be played at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena in Moncton, NB.

StFX Sports Information