Panthers pull off huge upset on Donnie MacFadyen tribute night

By Thomas Becker

"We did it for Donnie." 

On an afternoon where UPEI celebrated long-time Panther Donnie MacFadyen and his 21 years of excellence with the women's hockey program, the Panthers took down the Saint Mary's Huskies—the nation's top-ranked team—4-2. 

The game played out like a storybook with a perfect ending. Down two goals early in the second period, the Panthers (10-4-2), fueled by the man of the hour, scored four unanswered goals to pull off the upset.

Fifth-year captain Sophie Vandale spoke after the game about MacFadyen's influence over the years. 

"Donnie is someone who would do anything for anyone," she said. "Academic-wise, if you need help with school, he's the first person to help you. If you need someone to talk to after a bad day, he's there. He's just that person you call." 

Third-year forward Taylor Gillis was another player with a little extra pep in her step, as she led all scorers with two goals and an assist, while Kelly Clements and Jolena Gillard also found the back of the net. Mireille Martin added two helpers in the win. 

"We knew we had it in tough, so we had to come out strong from the beginning," Gillis said.

While the Panthers came out strong, the results didn't reflect that right away, as the Huskies (12-3-1) took an early lead. At 3:59 of the first period, Taylor Keeping dropped the puck off for Aimee O'Neill, who casually shot it toward the net, where it slid by Camille Scherger. 

Saint Mary's added to their lead five minutes into the second when Kate Gallant split two defenders and found Erin Denny to her right, where she beat Scherger gloveside.

Despite being down by two goals, Panthers head coach Bruce Donaldson felt his team played well enough to make a run on the Huskies.

"I thought we kept with them, we just needed to get more pucks and bodies toward the net," he said. 

That's exactly what they did, and at 8:26 they were rewarded with a goal. After Lexie Murphy found Martin in the left circle, Martin spun and passed it in front to Clements, who redirected it past goaltender Dagny Hudspeth. 

Gillis then tied it up less than four minutes later when she took a pass from behind the net, got in front and beat Hudspeth with the backhand. 

"When Saint Mary's scored the second one, I thought OK, but then we came right back," Donaldson said. "That really gave us the momentum and then I was like, we can do this."

With momentum on their side, the Panthers came into the third period determined to end Saint Mary's 10-game win streak. Midway through the period, Martin got by a defender and slid a backhand pass to Gillard, who gathered the puck in front of the net and shovelled it over Hudspeth's leg for the go-ahead goal. 

UPEI's penalty kill came up big moments after they scored, as they found themselves down two players. However, a series of blocked shots and critical saves from Scherger kept the lead intact until Gillis added to it with the empty netter in the game's dying seconds.

"Our goal was to be a top-4 team and today's win firmed that up," Donaldson said. "We have a win against St. FX, we have a win against UNB, and we have a win against Saint Mary's, and they're all ranked programs. Clearly, when we do things the way we're capable of, good things can happen."

The Panthers don't play again until Jan. 7 when they travel to Moncton to take on the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan