(Antigonish, NS) - The StFX X-Women skated to a convincing 5-0 win over the visiting Dalhousie Tigers Tuesday night to take a 1-0 lead in their Subway AUS best-of-three semi-final series.
Sophomore forward Daley Oddy (Cranbrook, BC) had a hat-trick for the X-Women and goaltender Sojung Shin (Seoul, Korea) earned the shutout victory in front of more than 200 fans at the StFX Keating Centre.
Oddy opened the scoring for the X-Women as Sarah Bujold (Riverview, NB) found her in the slot, as Oddy beat Tigers goaltender Jessica Severeyns (Hammonds Plains, NS) at the 11:42 mark of the first period. Nicole Halladay (Smith Falls, ON) also garnered an assist on the power-play tally.
"It was super important to get that first goal. It really helped our confidence," Oddy said in the first intermission. "We can't relax at all; we have to keep this pace up for the rest of the game," she added.
With 22 seconds remaining in the opening frame, Alex Normore (Bedford, NS) doubled the X-Women advantage. After taking a pass from Kara Power (New Glasgow, NS) just outside the StFX blue line, the fifth-year senior streaked up the ice, beat a Tiger defender and broke in alone before beating Severeyns with a low shot to the stick side.
Severeyns was the star of the second period, making several key saves, as the X-Women outshot the Tigers 19 to four.
Despite the DAL goaltender's stellar effort, StFX extended their lead to 3-0 at the 18:52 mark, when Oddy notched her second power play goal of the game. From the slot, she whistled a wrist shot under the cross bar. Bujold and Normore had the assists.
At 5:03 of the third period, Bujold - the Subway player of the game - extended the X-Women lead to four goals, on an assist from team captain Taylor Dale (Oromocto, NB).
Mati Barrett (Stittsville, ON) took over the goaltending duties from Severeyns after the Bujold goal.
The Tigers had their best scoring opportunity in the third period with a 5-on-3 power play advantage. They even pulled Barrett for the 6-on-3 advantage but Shin held her ground and the Tigers were unable to put any pucks past the X netminder.
Oddy completed the hat-trick with her third power-play goal, at the 17:44 mark. Dale and defender Nicole Corcoran (Bloomfield, PE) chipped in assists as the X-Women took a 5-0 lead.
"The atmosphere in our dressing room over the past couple weeks has been unreal," Dale said after the game. "We had a great mindset and I knew we would be ready for this one. I didn't expect anything less - the girls were awesome."
Sojung Shin made 18 saves for the shutout win. Severeyns was tagged with the loss, posting 30 saves in the Tigers net, while Barrett turned aside 11.
The three stars of the contest were Bujold, Oddy and Normore.
Game 2 of the Subway AUS semifinal series is set for Thursday, Feb. 26 in Halifax at the Forum. Game 3, if necessary, will take place Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Keating Centre in Antigonish. Puck drop for both games is set for 7 p.m.
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