The St. Thomas University women’s hockey team had two successful games this weekend, walking away with wins on Nov. 28 and Nov. 30, and maintaining their winning streak.
The Tommies played the University of New Brunswick Reds on Nov. 28 at the Aitken Centre in another battle of the hill. They’ve beaten the Reds 2-1 in their last two matchups.
In an attempt to start off strong, the Tommies made a shot at the Reds’ goal within the first couple minutes of the game, but were unsuccessful.
Both teams struggled until the Reds scored seven minutes into the game. For the rest of the period, neither team put a puck in the net.
It was obvious that both teams were pushing themselves in the second period and the Reds got a bit rough, earning two penalties in the first half of the period.
The Tommies made many shots on goal with several bouncing off the post. By the end of the second period, STU had 23 attempts on UNB’s net.
Tommie Lauren Henman said that’s when they kicked it into high gear.
“After the second intermission, we said, ‘Look, we’ve got 14 shots on net. We’re bound to get one, we just have to keep pressuring them, keep getting pucks to the net,'” she said.
Henman then scored 50 seconds into the third period, assisted by Alexandra Woods and Emily Oleksuk.
Henman set up another shot which Olivia Reid tipped into the net three minutes into the period.
The Tommies fought fiercely to keep their lead, with Woods receiving a penalty with just a minute left in play. The Reds tried to tie up the game during the powerplay but weren’t successful, giving the Tommies another 2-1 win.
The Tommies went up against St. Francis Xavier University on Nov. 30.
The X-Women made their first shot three minutes into the game but couldn’t get past STU’s excellent defence.
The teams seemed evenly matched, as the game remained scoreless after the first period.
STU started out strong in the second period with a shot on the StFX goalie within 10 seconds. StFX fired back and made several attempts on the net, allowing STU goalie Abby Clarke to make some impressive saves.
Nine minutes in, the X-Women made the first goal of the night on a powerplay.
The Tommies struggled to regain ground for the rest of the period with Oleksuk receiving a two-minute penalty. Despite the powerplay, StFX wasn’t able to score again, leaving them with a 1-0 lead at the end of the second period.
The third period started out slow with both teams passing many pucks into open ice until Tommie Mariah Carey scored seven minutes in, assisted by Megan Pardy.
For the rest of the period, both teams tried to get the lead, but at the end of the third period, the score was still tied at 1-1 forcing the game into overtime.
Neither team was able to score, forcing the game to go into a shootout.
Henman, Oleksuk and Lauren Legault made the shots, but Clarke was the star of the shootout, stopping the opponent’s pucks and winning the shootout, giving the Tommies a 2-1 win.
Clarke was happy with the win after the stressful game.
“That’s just the best feeling. That’s why I play the game, it’s that stuff right there. It’s those kinds of games,” said Clark.
“It’s back and forth all game and you’re battling, you’re battling and every puck, every play is different. Any puck can go in the net … to pull it out like that especially after being down is one of the best feelings.”
The Tommies will go into the second semester with the 10-game winning streak.
