--- Sean Crocker, STU BA '20 ---
Fredericton, NB- The St. Thomas University Tommies fought their way to a 3-1 victory over the Mount Allison University Mounties in AUS women's hockey action Sunday afternoon at the Grant Harvey Centre.
Head coach Peter Murphy was pleased with his squad's bounce back performance following a 2-1 loss to the Saint Mary's Huskies.
"We feel if we can get in a one goal game against anyone, we have a chance," said Murphy. "We tried to bring our pace from yesterday into this one, and once we came on in the second, the girls were really happy."
The Mounties broke the scoreless deadlock early on when Emma Schurman capitalized on a rebound opportunity on the power play to give the Mounties a first period lead.
"I didn't find we had the same pace today," Murphy said. "We pushed early on, we sort of sat back a little bit and found our stride in the second and a little more in the third."
The Tommies responded in the second period when Lauren Legault received a pass from the team leader in goals, Alex Woods. puck found the stick of Legault and she was able to find the net through a scramble in front to knot the game at one.
"We talked all week about just going hard to the net for rebounds," said Legault. "The opportunity was there and I just found a way to put it in."
The Tommies did not stop there when rookie defender, Aislynn Byers, got the puck up ice on a stretch pass to Danielle Ring for a two-on-one rush. Ring passed the puck onto the stick of Mariah Carey, who scored her first of two goals on the day, giving the Tommies their first lead of the afternoon at 2-1.
Carey added her second tally just 24 seconds into the third period on the slick feed from Legault, bringing the final score up to 3-1.
The pair of goals ties Carey with team leader, Alex Woods, for the most goals on the squad this season.
"Since they're going that way, I think they expect more," said Carey of her role as a veteran of the team. "I just have to keep trying to put them in and we'll find the offence."
The win moves the Tommies (6-6-0) further into a playoff spot, sitting seven points up on the Mounties (2-9-1).
The Tommies are back in action Friday night when they pay a visit to the Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax where the puck drops at 7:00pm. The Mounties won't have to wait as long, as they are set to face the UPEI Panthers in a midweek tilt in Sackville, NB on Wednesday at 7:00pm.