Tommies Vault Into 1st Place in AUS Standings with 2-0 win over Huskies

(Fredericton, NB) The home cooking has been great for the St Thomas University Tommies so far this week. After defeating the UPEI Panthers on Friday night the Tommies handed the Saint Mary's Huskies a 2-0 loss Saturday night.

Coming into this weekend of play the Huskies were ranked #7 in the country, but their Fredericton road trip was less than kind to them, falling 3-2 in overtime to the Reds and 2-0 to the Tommies.

Lauren Henman (Cow Bay, NS) scored her 5^th goal of the season early in the first period off a nifty pass from captain, and linemate, Emily Oleksuk (Thunder Bay, ON).

After that first period goal both teams played some great, shutdown defense. Neither power play could get anything mustered with the Huskies going 0/5 and the Tommies 0/6 on the advantage.

"Our team defense was good. Saint Mary's is different than some of the teams we have faced, they will try and work a good shot in the zone, not just throw pucks at the net," said head coach Peter Murphy. "I felt like they were in our zone a little more than we would have liked in the first period, but they didn't get many pucks on net."

The second period saw the Huskies get the better chances, as they had two power plays, but again nothing came of them, thanks in part to Abby Clarke (Springdale, NL) who stopped all 18 shots she would face in the game to earn the shutout and Subway AUS Player of the Game honours.

The final stanza saw the Tommies take control both offensively and defensively as they outshot the Huskies 12-3, and Henman potted the empty net goal to seal the victory for STU.

Rebecca Clark made 21 saves in the losing effort to be the second star of the game.

The Tommies will complete their 3-game homestand on Wednesday when the UNB Reds visit the Grant Harvey Centre for another installment of the Battle of the Hill. The Huskies host Dalhousie on Saturday, November 10^th.