X-Women clinch first round playoff bye with win over Tigers

Halifax, N.S. – Special teams played an important role in the StFX X-Women's 4-3 win over the Dalhousie Tigers Wednesday night at the Halifax Forum. The win also clinched a top two finish in the AUS standings for the X-Women, securing them a first round playoff bye and a berth directly into the semifinals. StFX is riding an 11-game win streak.

StFX kept the Tigers powerplay at bay all night, successfully killing seven of their eight penalties.

X-Women forward Tyra Meropoulis (Edson, Alta.) scored a shorthanded goal midway through the first period just seconds after serving a two-minute minor for body checking. Hannah MacDonald (Wetaskiwin, Alta.) recorded the assist. The X-Women had 12 shots on net compared to the Tigers who recorded just five shots on net in the first.

There was a lot more action in the second, with Kristen McKinley (Rothesay, N.B.) netting StFX's second goal of the game on the power play with Josie Chisholm (Antigonish, N.S.) earning the assist. Dalhousie responded eight minutes later with their first goal of the game. Elizabeth Klimm (West Kelowna, B.C.) took advantage of a misplayed StFX puck to create a two-on-one opportunity for the Tigers and got it past X-Women goalie Jamie Johnson (Victoria, B.C.) to bring the score to 2-1.

It looked like that was how the second period would end until Patti-Anne Tracey (Antigonish, N.S.) scored a shorthanded goal with just one second left to play in the frame as the X-Women took a 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

The Tigers netted the first even-strength goal of the night with Brooklyn Paisley (Shawnigan Lake, B.C.) scoring an unassisted marker two and a half minutes into the third period to bring the Tigers within one.

StFX's Lindsey Donovan (Miramichi, N.B.) took a double minor penalty to give Dalhousie a four-minute powerplay a short time later. The Tigers had a number of great opportunities, but the X-Women kept them at bay and successfully killed both penalties.

Amy Graham (Nepean, Ont.) scored the X-Women's fourth goal of the game midway through the third, another shorthanded effort. Lydia Schurman (Summerside, P.E.) was credited with the assist.

A StFX giveaway gave Dalhousie their third goal of the game with Nicole Hegyi (Pickering, Ont.) finding the back of the net with just over four minutes to play. Kennedy Whelan (Alliston, Ont.) got the helper. The Tigers pulled their goalie trying to tie it up in the dying minutes of the final period, but in the end the X-Women prevailed, earning a 4-3 victory.

Fabiana Petricca (Woodbridge, Ont.) made 23 saves in the losing effort for the Tigers, while Johnson turned away 27 of the Tigers 30 shots for the X-Women.

StFX's Amy Graham earned Subway Player of the Game honours with her game-winning goal.

StFX improves to 21-5-1 to move into first place atop the AUS standings. They will skip the AUS best 2-of-3 quarterfinal series and await an oppoent for the best 2-of-3 semifinals.

The Tigers fall to 6-19-2 and are currently battling for the sixth and final playoff spot with one game left to play in regular season action.

The X-Women host Mount Allison in their final regular season game on Friday night at 7:00 p.m., while Dalhousie heads to St. Thomas on Saturday with the puck dropping at 3:00 p.m.

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Courtesy Dalhousie Sports Information