By: Sean Crocker, BA'18
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The St. Thomas University Tommies fell to the St. Francis Xavier X-Women 6-2 in game one of the best-of-three AUS women's hockey semifinal series Friday night at the Grant-Harvey Centre.
Daley Oddy of St. FX scored the first goal of the night and it was not the only goal of the opening period, as Nicole Halladay scored on a scramble in front of the net to make it 2-0 for the X-Women 12 minutes into the game.
Tommies head coach Peter Murphy said his team was able to settle in after the shaky start.
"After that bad stretch, we were good," Murphy said. "We know how to score, you can see it when you watch, and we got lots of opportunities but just didn't get one."
The Tommies locked down their defence and managed to get out of the first period trailing only 2-0 after a few additional scoring chances from the X-Women.
Early in the second period, the Tommies got a five-on-three advantage, but weren't able to capitalize.
"Our first powerplay didn't look good at all," Murphy said. "I thought the other ones we got chances and got some pucks on net, but everybody was playing tight so it got harder."
The X-Women kept pressuring but Taylor Cook stood tall in the Tommies net.
The X-Women managed to hold their lead until the end of the second period, when St. FX goalie Ariana Orasanin put on a display, stopping a flurry of shots near the end of the period.
"I thought she played well. She's had a good second half of the season," Murphy said of Orasanin. "We don't go in being worried that we won't score, but she played well."
The third period was a much different story for the Tommies, as an early goal from Lauren Henman allowed them to cut the X-Women lead to 2-1.
Shortly after Henman's goal, the X-Women countered with two quick markers—the first from Lindsay MacDonald and the second from Jenna Macdonald—to take a 4-1 lead.
Jessie McCann responded for the Tommies shortly thereafter to narrow the lead once again, but it was all for naught as St. FX's Heather Tillsley scored on the empty net with just over a minute to go.
Kara Power added a second empty-netter in the dying seconds of the game to cap off an offensive explosion from the X-Women, who topped the Tommies 6-2.
"I thought we played very well at times. The pucks just have to be put into the net, and we didn't do that," Murphy said.
The Tommies will visit the X-Women for game two of the series this Sunday in Antigonish. Puck drop is at 7:00 pm.