The St. Thomas University women’s hockey team cruised to a 3-1 win over the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers in the opening game of the best-of-three Atlantic University Sport women’s hockey quarterfinals on Feb. 13.
An evenly-matched first period ended scoreless, with the Tommies edging out UPEI on shots eight to four, failing to capitalize on two power plays.
STU forward Lauren Henmen found the back of the net on a powerplay goal less than a minute into the second period off a pass across the net by Olivia Reid, to open with a 1-0 lead.
The Tommies extended their lead to 2-0 less than two minutes later. Margarita Dorofeeva scored a goal off a rebound shot by Kaylee Vader.
The Tommies maintained strong puck control throughout the second period, capitalizing on frequent turnovers by the Panthers. Emily Oleksuk scored on a shot in the top corner in a two-on-one assisted by Samantha Squires. It gave the Tommies a 3-0 lead with 10 minutes remaining in the period.
The Panthers found the back of the net on a power play with 11 minutes remaining in the third, only to have it waved off because the net was pushed out of place. It was one of two goals waved off by the officials in the period.
UPEI was able to score with five minutes left in the game but failed to capitalize on several opportunities in the final few minutes.
Tommies head coach Peter Murphy said he was pleased with the first two periods, and his team’s performance on the penalty kill, but was not as impressed with the third.
“If we play three periods like the second it’s not even a contest,” said Murphy.
“Too many stupid penalties. I don’t mind a penalty if you’re both going for the puck.”
The team defeated the Panthers 8-1 in Charlottetown on Feb. 16 and will head to the semi-finals against Saint Mary’s University.
