Tommies Down X-Women 5-3 in Fredericton

The St. Thomas University Tommies scored three unanswered goals in the third period to top the St. Francis Xaiver X-Women 5-3 in AUS women's hockey action Sunday afternoon at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

It was a physical first period with both teams getting a chance on the power play, but neither were able to capitalize with the man advantage.

The Tommies opened the scoring 18:12 into the frame with a goal from Lauren Henman, who beat Huskies netminder Carley Molnar on a great individual effort.

"I thought she did very well today," Tommies head coach Peter Murphy said after the game. "Her first goal she went up the ice through everybody and scored, which got us going."

Just 4:35 into the second stanza, Daley Oddy put the X-Women on the board to tie the game, 1-1.

"They had the advantage on that play because their bench was closer to our offensive zone, so they got Oddy out against a line that I wouldn't have liked," Murphy said. "They were able to get that change through, so I'll give them credit for that."

The Tommies reclaimed the lead at 8:49 when Henman buried the rebound off an Eliza Snider slapper from the point. It was short-lived though, as the X-Women responded with a goal from Nicole Halladay with 38.9 on the clock.

The X-Women took their first and only lead of the game 46 seconds into the third with a goal from Connor Garagan, who squeaked the puck past Tommies goaltender Abby Clarke.

The Tommies pressured throughout the frame for the equalizer and were rewarded at 15:12 as Emily Oleksuk capitalized on a back-hand in tight. Teah Anderson followed suit less than three minutes later with a power play goal from the slot, giving the Tommies a 4-3 lead.

"The third period was back and forth, but we got back on the offensive side," Murphy said. "We were doing the things today that we asked them to do yesterday [against St. Mary's]."

The X-Women pulled Molnar for the extra attacker with 50 seconds to go, but a broken play led to an empty net goal for Samantha Squires and secured the win for the Tommies.

Clarke made 18 saves in the win, while Molnar turned away 33 shots in the loss.

Henman was named Subway Player of the Game for her two-goal performance.

The Tommies are back in action Sunday, October 22 when they host the Mount Allison Mounties. The X-Women will host the Dalhousie Tigers on Wednesday night in Antigonish.