The St. Thomas University Tommies’ women’s hockey team faced the University of New Brunswick Reds on Nov. 27 for the third game of the Battle of the Hill series this season. Both teams had a win under their belts going into the third game which only raised the stakes.
The Tommies defeated the Reds 2-1 after a last-second goal.
The Tommies started off strong with the majority of the shots. The puck was on the Reds’ side for most of the period, however, all shots were saved by the Reds’ goalie. The Reds were able to take a lead when they were given a powerplay at the end of the first period. Still, no goals were made. The Reds scored their goal only a few minutes into the second period when the puck whizzed past Tommies Caroline Pietroski’s shoulder.
Near the end of the second period the anticipation rose as the chants in the crowd grew louder. The Reds remained in lead as the period ended, but the Tommies did not give up their energy and perseverance. The third period started with still having more shots on the Reds, but it ended with the Reds still owning the score.
Once Legault tied the score 1-1, tension was high. Both teams pushed hard for a second goal to win the game. With fifty-seven seconds left, a time-out was called by the Tommies’ coach, Peter Murphy, who was devising a strategy to win the game.
The crowd roared when Alexandra Woods scored the winning goal with only 22 seconds left. The goal was assisted by Emily Oleksuk and Brooke Stanford. When the buzzer rang shortly after, the Tommies threw their hands up in victory and congratulated one another.
Murphy said with seconds left in the game, he put out the six players he felt would score that winning goal at the time.
“The six players change every game, that’s what’s been really good about this year. There’s been some rookies in there and some vets,” he said.
With the win, Murphy feels it’s a great experience for his team.
“Games like this are big games, when they realize that they’re down by one and can look down the bench at each other and say ‘Hey we are going to do this.’”
It was a close call but he said the Tommies worked hard for the win.
“It’s all about the experience.”
