The St. Thomas University Tommies beat the University of New Brunswick Reds on Oct. 29 in the second edition of the Battle of the Hill.
“Just overall coming together as a team and wanting to win, especially against UNB,” said Tommies’ defensemen Aislynn Byers.
When the two teams met earlier this season, UNB won 5-2 against STU. This time though, the Tommies ended UNB’s winning streak.
Coming into this game, UNB was scoring 3.33 goals per game and was ranked second in the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) with a sole loss in a shootout against the Saint Francis Xavier University X-Women. STU entered the game with a 3-3 record.
In the first period, a pass from behind the opposition’s net by Emma Wilson found Ekaterina “Kat” Pelowich wide-open while skating down the centre of the ice. Pelowich scored her second goal of the season. Wilson capitalized early in the Tommies’ first powerplay to add to their lead, with the assists coming from her linemates Olivia Reid and Pelowich.
Wilson was alone at the left side of the net and collected a rebound, followed by scoring on Woodland. She became a lead scorer for the Tommies early in the year – scoring four times in eight games. Each of these goals were assisted by Reid.
During the game, STU’s lines aimed to gain the offensive zone and send the puck back to their defense – who would rely on shots from the point to create offence. The forwards shot on the net and collected rebounds to start the cycle all over again.
In the first Battle of the Hill, the Reds scored four consecutive goals taking the lead, but in this game, they only managed one goal coming from Reagan Minor.
“We had a disappointment against StFX and that made us evaluate this year and the games we’ve played so far and [made us] change things around,” said Byers.
STU’s Jacey Dane scored two more goals in the second period. Her first was a rebound from Woodland and her second goal came after the lone defender was tied up at the blue line. Byers helped free the puck to Dane to spring her on a breakaway where she shot past the blocker of Woodland and scored.
The Tommies won 4-1, placing their record at 4-3 this year and evening the score for Battle of the Hill. Byers said she had two goals and six assists in seven games.
“I have to thank every single person that is on the ice at that time, especially my [defence] partners Alex Woods and Flo Awde,” she said. “I couldn’t do it without them.”
