Panthers fall to Tommies

(Fredericton, NB) The St. Thomas University Tommies moved to 5-2-0 on the season with a 4-2 victory over the visiting University of Prince Edward Island Panthers Friday night at the Grant Harvey Centre.

First year defenseman Florence Awde (Mount Albert, ON) got her first career Atlantic University Sport goal to open the scoring for the Tommies on a slap shot that squeaked through the legs of UPEI goalie Camille Scherger (Lloydminster, AB).

 "It was a good, hard shot," commented head coach Peter Murphy on his defender's first goal. "That was probably Flo's strongest game for us. She played really well tonight and made good decisions."

Less than a minute after Awde's goal veteran Becky Conner (East St. Paul, MB) pounced on a loose puck in the crease and jammed home her second goal of the season, with assists going to Stephanie Ford (Coburg, ON) and Danielle Ring (Saint John, NB).

It was a back and forth first period, with both teams finishing with 9 shots each, and it appeared that the Tommies would head into the first intermission with a 2-0 lead. That's when Rachel Colle (Toronto, ON) scored with 1.6 seconds left in the first. She tipped a shot from the point from Sophie Vandale (Winnipeg, MB) to cut the lead to 2-1.

"They're a good team and they're going to try and do what they can. I think we played a good first 10 minutes, and then I thought the next 10, for some reason, we thought the game was over," said Murphy about his team's play in the first period.

As much as the first period was a back and forth affair, the second period belonged to the Tommies, outshooting the Panthers 14-3 and outscoring them 2-0.

It didn't take long for STU to restore their two-goal lead as 1:05 into the period Lauren Legault (Winnipeg, MB) streaked in all alone and went high blocker side to score the eventual game winner, her second game winning goal of the young season.

"It just happened so fast. It was just like my UNB goal, so I had been there before. I knew what I was doing," said Legault with a chuckle, referencing her double overtime game winning goal against the UNB Reds.

Rounding out the scoring for STU was captain Emily Oleksuk (Thunder Bay, ON), who netted her third goal of the campaign.

UPEI pressed late with Colle getting her second of the game after STU goalie Abby Clarke (Springdale, NL) made a glove save, but couldn't hang onto the puck. The Panthers also had a late power play, but the Tommies held strong to come away with the win.

Clarke made 20 saves for the win, while Scherger made 23 saves in the loss.

The Tommies host the Saint Mary's Huskies (5-1-1) Saturday night, while the Panthers will head to Moncton to face the Aigles Bleues (3-5-0).