Ruby Loughton’s overtime winner earns Panthers 4-3 win over St. FX

By Thomas Becker

It looked like the St. FX X-Women would pull off a remarkable comeback, but UPEI's Ruby Loughton said otherwise, as she scored the overtime winner in Saturday night's 4-3 win. 

Down two goals late in the third period, X-Women Anna MacCara and Maggy Burbidge scored a minute apart to send the game to overtime. But the resilient Panthers (3-1-0) responded in the extra frame and earned their third win of the season on a clutch blocker-side shot by Loughton. 

"It feels pretty surreal. I shot the puck and I didn't even know if it went in the net," Loughton said. "Everyone just started jumping on me and I was like, 'holy crap, I think that just went in.'"

RUBY CALLS GAME!!!#GoPanthersGo | #Hockey pic.twitter.com/adfTBnHT3D

— UPEI Women's Hockey (@UPEIWHockey) October 16, 2022

St. FX (2-0-1) came out as the aggressor early and the shots on goal reflected that. But UPEI goaltender Shaylin McFarlane kept the game scoreless long enough for her teammates to grab the lead. On the scoring play, Alyssa Nolan barely kept the puck in the offensive zone, where Lexie Murphy took it and drove hard to the net before Mireille Martin buried the rebound to put her team ahead 1-0.

After St. FX tied it early in the second on a goal by Chloe Vukosa, the Panthers went back to work and got to the X-Women late in the period.

First, it was Taylor Gillis, who picked the pocket of a St. FX defender in the defensive zone and skated up the right side alone before wiring a wrist shot in the top corner to give UPEI a 2-1 advantage. 

A minute and a half later, Tiah Scichilone was strong on the forecheck and forced a turnover. She then centred a pass to Kaiya Maracle, who put away her first AUS goal to make it 3-1. 

That lead looked like it would hold throughout the third period, but a lapse in the Panthers' concentration and a spirited effort by the X-Women got them back in it. 

At 16:51, Chloe Vukosa redirected a pass to Anna MacCara, who skated through the neutral and got by the lone defender before firing a low show past McFarlane to trim the deficit to one. 

A little over a minute later, Leah MacLeod battled for the puck along the boards and sent a pass to Burbidge, who fired a wrist shot in the top right corner to tie it at three apiece. 

All the momentum St. FX gained in that short amount of time was undone by Loughton, who delivered the heroics in overtime.

After the game, UPEI head coach Sean Fisher praised the team's ability to finish the job after surrendering the lead.

"They deserved it. They were the better team for 58 minutes, so they deserved the result they got," he said. "That's a sign of a group that's maturing. They had a bit of a lapse there for two minutes, but they didn't let it affect them from getting the result they wanted."

The Panthers hit the road next Saturday where they'll take on the Dalhousie Tigers, while the X-Women return home for a battle with the Université de Moncton Aigle Bleues.

Photo Credit: Justin Arenburg