Halifax, NS – The STFX X-Women took the first game of a best-of-three semifinal against the Saint Mary's Huskies, as Anna MacCara scored in overtime to give the visitors a 3-2 win on Friday night at the Dauphinee Centre in Halifax.
The Huskies (16-5) advanced to the semifinal with a 4-0 quarterfinal win over the Dalhousie Tigers on Wednesday night, while the X-Women (15-6) punched their ticket to the next round with a 6-1 win over the Moncton Aigles Bleues.
This set up a semifinal matchup between the two nationally ranked sides (X-Women No. 5, Huskies No. 8), who have met in either the AUS championship final or semifinal in each of the past six seasons.
The opening period saw both opponents entertain a good crowd with back-and-forth action; each team looking to strike first in this pivotal game one. The Huskies lit the lamp first as a nifty individual effort from forward Ellen Laurence put one past X-Women netminder Jamie Johnson. The goal was assisted by Kara MacLean and Maddy McCleary and put the home squad up 1-0, 13:39 into the period.
The period continued with many good scoring opportunities, but the strong play of goalies Johnson and the Huskies Dagny Hudspeth held the offences in check to end the frame 1-0. The X-Women outshot the Huskies 11-6 in the opening period.
Just 1:15 into the second period, the Huskies doubled their lead when Laurence scored her second of the night, firing an unassisted wrist shot past Johnson to put the home team up 2-0.
Once again the X-Women outshot the Huskies 17-12 in the second period, but the story of the period for was the stellar play of Hudspeth who continued to stimy the X-Women to maintain the 2-0 lead.
The final period saw the X-Women find the back of the net as they scored 21 seconds in on a push in the Huskies end with Kamdyn Switzer capitalizing on helpers from Lauren Dabrowski and Emerson Elliot.
The action packed play continued throughout the period with the X-Women finding the equalizer with five minutes to go on a goal by Hannah MacDonald who blasted one from the point past Hudspeth to knot it up 2-2. Switzer picked up her seoncd point of the night with the assist.
The final minutes saw both squads have their opportunities but both goaltenders held their ground respectively to send the game to overtime.
The 10-minute overtime period saw much of the same as both teams battled to maintain possession in the offensive end; the back-and-forth action from these foes brought great play to the fans in attendance, and tension was high as both teams pushed for the game-winning goal.
After several attempts for both teams, the X-Women found their winner with 2:41 left in the extra frame, as Anna MacCara picked up a deflected shot from Vivian Hinch and fired it past Hudspeth to give the X-Women the 3-2 win.
AUS Subway Players of the Game were X-Women defense Hannah MacDonald and Huskies forward Ellen Laurence.
The X-Women outshot the Huskies 46-29 in the game, and Hudspeth was outstanding with 43 saves, while Johnson stopped 27 shots for the X-Women.
It will be a quick turnaround for both squads, as they travel to Antigonish Saturday for game two, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. at the STFX Keating Centre. If necessary, game three will be played at the Dauphinee Centre on Monday, March 14.
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Recap courtesy Allan April, Huskies Athletics
Congrats to Subway Player of the Game Hannah MacDonald! Played a strong game on D and scored the game tying goal late in the 3rd to force OT as the X-Women best SMU 3-2! #Subwayfuel #goxgo pic.twitter.com/m7APdPnayp
— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) March 12, 2022