Tommies Drop 5-2 Decision to X-Women in Season Opener

The St. Thomas University Tommies dropped a 5-2 decision to the St. Francis Xavier X-Women in AUS women's hockey action Friday night in Antigonish.

The X-Women got out to a 4-0 lead and the Tommies were forced to play catch up, but to no avail. Special teams were a major factor as the X-Women were 2-for-3 on the power play, while the Tommies were 1-for-11.

StFX's Lindsey Donovan scored the game's first goal with an unassisted marker that went top shelf on Tommies goaltender Abby Clarke just over five minutes into play.  

Kristen McKinley followed suit with a wrist shot from the slot at 17:09, after a breakout pass from Nicole Corcoran.  

The X-Women came out strong in the second, scoring at 4:43 while on the power play. Veteran forward Sarah Bujold unleashed a wrist shot that just beat Clarke. 

The X-Women added their fourth goal of the evening with an unassisted, short handed goal by forward Jenna MacDonald. MacDonald picked up a loose puck and out-maneuvered the Tommies defender in front of the net to score the backhanded goal at 13:42.

Down 4-0, the Tommies goaltender Clarke was pulled in favour of Taylor Cook.

The Tommies scored their first marker of the evening with 1:30 left in the second periof while on the power play. Forward Alisha Gilbert got the puck past StFX goaltender Carley Molnar off an assist from Becky Conner following a scuffle in front of the net.

The third period saw the X-Women produce 15 shots on net, with Oddy having StFX's only goal in the period. During a power play, following several scoring chances, the veteran X-Women captain capitalized by redirecting a pass from defenseman Santana Gravelle.

Just under a minute and a half later, St. Thomas netted a power play goal of their own while on a two-man advantage. Defenseman Leah Galati released a slap shot from the point after being set up by Conner and defenseman Paige Jackson.

Final shots in the game favoured StFX 37-23 as Molnar earned the win in nets with 21 saves. Cook, with 15 saves, was tagged with the loss for the Tommies. Clarke turned aside 17 pucks for STU.

The Subway Player of the Game was awarded to X-Women defenseman Lindsey Donovan who had a two-point evening and anchored the blue line for X. Second star went to X-Women forward Daley Oddy and third star honours to Tommies forward Becky Conner.

Both teams are back in AUS action tomorrow. The X-Women are at home Saturday afternoon at 2:00 pm against Mount Allison, while St. Thomas head to Halifax to visit Dalhousie at 7:00 pm.

Courtesy Kiana Pace, StFX Athletics Communications