Huskies edge Panthers 4-2

By Justin Arenburg

After losing on the road to the Tigers Wednesday night the Saint Mary Huskies knew they needed a bounce back win against the UPEI Panthers, and that's exactly what they got.

In a 4-2 win over the Panthers (4-3-0), fourth-year veteran Shae Demale had her name all over the game, as she scored two goals, including an empty-netter to seal the victory on her way to being named the Subway Player of the Game.

"It was about keeping things different," Demale said of the approach to tonight's game. "We had to keep our play safe and smart, while working as a team and getting it done together."

After a scoreless first period where the Huskies (4-3-0) outshot the Panthers 12-4, the road team finally broke through at the 8:22 mark in the second period. Ellen Laurence grabbed the puck at centre ice and had partial two-on-one break, in which she kept it and got off a shot. Shaylin McFarlane made the initial save, but Demale was able to bat the puck out of mid-air, giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

"I thought we just had to drive the net hard and we all knew we had to do that if we were going to win today."

At the 12:12 mark in the second period Aimee O'Neill gave the Huskies a 2-0 lead after she was left open in the slot and made no mistake about it.

The Panthers would get one back in the second period to cut the deficit to one at 16:08. Fourth-year forward Taylor Gillis got a lucky redirect off a Huskie defender that found the back of the net.

The momentum had swung by the end of the second and when the third period started the Panthers came out flying. 5:04 into the period Lexie Murphy tied the game at 2-2 after she came streaking down in front of the Huskies net, getting a beautiful pass from Gillis before burying the shot.

Minutes later, the Huskies came roaring back on the power play. This time it was Miranda Hatt getting in on the action to put the Huskies back up by one.

Then with only two minutes left in the game, the Huskies took a penalty and the Panthers were awarded a penalty shot. Second-year forward McKinley Nelson had her number called after coming off her first AUS hat trick last weekend against Dalhousie. Nelson went right and then went back to her left trying to beat Huskie goalie Sophie Scully to the post but wasn't able to do it as Scully came out on top.

Demale would score her second of the game on an empty netter to seal the Huskies road win.

The Huskies will host St. FX next Wednesday Nov. 2 while the Panthers are back on home ice tomorrow at 3 p.m. try and split the weekend against St. Thomas.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan