Tommies Edge Huskies 2-1

By: Sean Crocker, BA'18
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The St. Thomas University Tommies defeated the Saint Mary's University Huskies 2-1 in women's AUS hockey action Saturday afternoon at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

The Huskies scored first when Nicole Blanche found the loose puck on a rebound and put it in the Tommies net for a 1-0 lead late in the first period.

Tommies head coach Peter Murphy was pleased with his team's play in the first period, but still saw areas for improvement.

"We had times where we did well in the first," Murphy said. "I think they were a little better than us."

The Tommies responded in the second period when Lauren Henman fought her way to the front of the Huskies net and found Olivia Reid who shoved the puck to the back of the net to tie the game, 1-1.

"I thought she played her best game for us today," Murphy said of Henman. "I thought that whole line was good for us today."

Both teams exchanged chances throughout the frame with the Huskies getting the only powerplay of the period, which the Tommies killed off.

"I thought the forwards and defense were good," Murphy said. "We even put a lot of pressure up ice when we were coming back on the forecheck."

The third period saw an increase in the pace of play, allowing the two teams to exchange chances going both ways.

Tommies goalie Abby Clarke had to come up big for her team, and she delivered.

"She usually makes at least one game-saving save per game," Murphy said. "You need that save every now and again. It amps up the bench and that's the energy that gets you the goal on the next shift."

Late in the third period, the Tommies finally broke through when Clarke made a cross-crease save to keep the game knotted at one.

Lauren Henman came down the wing on the next sequence and deflected the puck into the top corner of the net on the feed from Emily Oleksuk to help vault the Tommies to a 2-1 win over the Huskies.

The Tommies had the advantage in shots, outshooting their rivals 24-20 by the end of the end of the third period.

The Tommies are back in action when they visit the Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus in Moncton tomorrow at 2:00pm.