The St. Thomas University women’s hockey team is headed to the Atlantic University Sport championships after winning 1-0 against the University of New Brunswick Reds on Feb. 25.
This was the second game in the semifinals. The Tommies won the first game 2-1 on Feb. 23.
Both teams came out with fire in the first period. They were all over each other as the Reds were looking for a win to stay in the playoffs.
The defence was strong this game, keeping the shots on goal low with nine for the Tommies and eight for the Reds.
The goalies worked hard, blocking all shots and keeping the first period scoreless.
Head coach Peter Murphy felt the first period went well.
“I thought we had a good jump in the first 10 of the first period and then after that they came back and they pushed back hard,” said Murphy.
The fire continued in the second period and the game started to get rough. Alisha Gilbert got a two-minute penalty 10 minutes into the period, giving the Reds a power play. Captain Emily Oleksuk followed suit two minutes later.
UNB was unable to score on both power play. The Tommies continued to lead in shots 15-14.
The tension was high in the third period with both teams fighting to score. Tommie Lauren Henman got a breakaway 10 minutes in, taking the puck down to UNB’s end. Olivia Reid followed behind and scored with help from Alex Woods and Henman after Henman missed her shot. This gave the Tommies a 1-0 lead.
The Reds pulled their goalie in the last minute of the period, but the Tommies stayed strong and kept their lead, winning the game 1-0.
Murphy said the team stepped it up in the third period knowing UNB would fight hard to win.
“You’ll see every now and then [UNB] get that rush against you and that’s what’s dangerous. So you’ve just got to be aware of that when that happens,” Murphy said.
The Tommies will face St. Francis Xavier University in the championship series.
