Submitted by
Wray Perkin
Game 1: U de M 2 vs. STU 3
Moncton opened the scoring on an early goal from Amelie Lariviere, but the Tommies responded with two goals 1:11 apart by Jordan Miller and Katie Brewster. The Saint Thomas goals were identical goals where first Miller and then Brewster were left all alone in front of the Moncton net.
Kayla Blackmore put the Tommies ahead late in the second period on a shot released from the high slot, and that was all the offence STU would need to come away with a win. Blackmore and Miller each recorded a goal and an assist, and Blackmore was selected as the Tommies’ player of the game.
Julia Sharun stopped 12 shots for Saint Thomas in the win, while Jenna Van Belois stopped 24 shots en route to being selected as Moncton’s player of the game.
Game 2: Mt. A 1 vs. St. FX 3
The St. FX X-Women prevailed over a feisty and tough Mount Allison squad that gave the X-Women all they could handle for 60 minutes.
A quick goal off a faceoff by Schyler Campbell in the first gave St. FX the lead, and while St. FX outshot the Mounties 16-5 in the second period, they were unable to solve Mounties’ goaltender Meghan Corley-Byrne.
Lindsay James tied the game for the Mounties on a slick wraparound early in the third period, but StFX pulled ahead again midway through the period when Jenna Pitts blasted a shot from the point past Corley-Byrne. Pitts scored again into an empty net with just over a minute remaining, and was StFX’s player of the game.
Corley-Byrne was selected as player of the game for the Mounties, stopping 35 shots, including a trio of highlight-reel saves on the penalty kill in the second. Katie Greenway stopped 11 shots for St. FX in the win.
Game 3: U d M 1 vs. SMU 4
The Saint Mary’s Huskies took advantage of two quick goals in the second period, and two highlight-reel goals by Brianna Soper to cruise to a 4-1 win over Moncton, eliminating les Aigles Bleues from the tournament.
The Huskies opened the scoring with a pair of goals coming 28 seconds apart in the second period. Kaitlyn Abbass scored first with a heat-seeking missile of a shot that found the top corner, before Soper scored her first on a 3-on-2 rush, keeping the puck and splitting the Moncton defenders.
Moncton would cut the deficit to 2-1 on a shorthanded goal by Marie-Pier Arsenault before the second period expired, but Soper’s second of the game with little time left in the period pulled the Huskies ahead by two goals again.
Sarah Maynard scored an unassisted powerplay goal to round out the scoring in the third period. Moncton played most of the period shorthanded, and took three 10-minute misconducts in the dying minutes.
Soper was selected as the Huskies’ player of the game, while Marika Lacroix was Moncton’s player of the game for her voracious efforts on the forecheck.
Sienna Cooke was solid in goal for Saint Mary’s, stopping 25 shots, while Jenna Van Belois and Emilie Bouchard combined for 23 saves in the Moncton goal.
Game 4: Mt. A 2 vs. UPEI 1
The Mount Allison Mounties were unable to advance to the championship game, but closed out their season with a solid performance and a 2-1 win over the UPEI Panthers.
Meghan Corley-Byrne, for the second game in a row, was named as her team’s player of the game, stopping 42 shots in net for Mount Allison. Many of her saves came in the third period, with her team up by one, and in the second period, on a 3-on-0 rush by the Panthers, Corley-Byrne made a nearly impossible save to keep the Mounties’ lead intact at the time.
Ashlyn Somers got the Mounties on the board in the first period when, on a 5-on-3 powerplay advantage, she gobbled up a rebound in front of the UPEI goal and fired a shot past Marie-Soleil Deschenes.
Keirstin Visser equalized the score with a high screen shot that eluded Corley-Byrne, but in the third period Mounties’ captain Lauren Oickle screamed down the left wing and fired a cannon that hit the top corner, giving the Mounties the lead.
Kristen Cooze played a crucial role on the penalty kill for the Mounties, helping them successfully kill off all six UPEI powerplay opportunities. Cooze also played a big role offensively, bringing the puck up the ice with speed several times, and assisting on Oickle’s game-winner.
Visser was selected as UPEI’s player of the game, firing nine shots on goal during the game, including her goal, while Deschenes stopped 24 shots in net for the Panthers.
Game 5: SMU 3 vs. STU 1
The penalty kill and goaltending of Sienna Cooke lifted the Saint Mary’s Huskies to a berth in the championship game with an exciting 3-1 win over the Saint Thomas Tommies.
Cooke was incredible in goal for the Huskies, stopping 36 shots, including 17 in the third period, as the Huskies were able to kill off 22 minutes of powerplay time that the Tommies were unable to capitalize on once.
Huskies captain Rebecca Mosher opened the scoring only 20 seconds into the game, crashing the net and finding the rebound after Kaitlyn Abbass brought the puck to the net.
No scoring occurred again until the third, when Brianna Soper’s third goal of the tournament gave Saint Mary’s a 2-0 lead.
Jordan Miller was left alone in front of the Saint Mary’s goal just long enough for her to get the puck past Cooke with 2:15 left to play, giving the Tommies hope of tying the game. Cooke and the Huskies didn’t allow it, however, with Carly Gray shooting the puck the length of the ice into the empty Saint Thomas goal with 11 seconds remaining to seal it for the Huskies.
Julia Sharun made 12 saves for Saint Thomas, who were 0-for-7 on the powerplay, including a pair of 4-minute double minor powerplays, as well as a pair of 5-on-3 advantages. Cooke was unbeatable in these situations, as 24 of her saves came while a player short, and was an easy selection for player of the game.
Game 6: UPEI 2 vs. St. FX 3
After falling behind by two goals early, the StFX X-Women rallied to erase the deficit, eventually using an empty-net goal as the game-winner to get past the UPEI Panthers 3-2.
Kiana Strand scored on the powerplay just 2:21 into the game for the Panthers, who then got another goal soon after when Samantha Sweet took advantage of a turnover inside the X-Women blueline to fire a shot past Kristy Garrow.
Jenna Pitts cut the deficit in half for St. FX with a powerplay goal before the first period was over, and in the second period Alex Normore fired a hard shot past UPEI’s Kristy Dobson to tie the game.
With UPEI needing a win by two goals to qualify for the championship game, they pulled Dobson in favour of the extra attacker in the dying moments, but Daniela Falconio of the X-Women fired a shot into the empty net with two seconds remaining to clinch the win and the berth in the final for St FX.’
Normore created offensive chances throughout the game for St. FX, and logged a lot of minutes on the powerplay, and was selected as St. FX’s player of the game, while Dobson was sharp in goal for UPEI, making 25 saves. Garrow faced only 15 shots in the win for StFX.
Game 7 (championship game): SMU 1 vs. St. FX 4
The St. FX X-Women won their ninth AUS Championship with a 4-1 win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies. The X-Women once again had to fight back from an early deficit, but four unanswered goals gave St. FX the win and the right to play in the CIS Championships in Toronto March 7-10.
Caitlyn Schell scored first for Saint Mary’s on the powerplay, but less than three minutes later St FX tied it up on Brittany Perkins’ goal, and Erin Brophy scored what ended up being the game-winning goal on a backhand in close while on the powerplay.
Sienna Cooke was strong once again in net for Saint Mary’s, but Molly MacDonald’s goal on a rebound off the post gave the X-Women their two-goal lead and enough breathing room to stifle any Huskies attack after that.
Alex Normore scored on the powerplay into an empty net with 20 seconds remaining to complete the scoring.
Cooke made 24 saves for the Huskies, who finished an incredible run after a disastrous 1-22-1 season in 2011-12, while Katie Greenway made 20 stops for the win in goal for St. FX.
The X-Women killed off a key 5-on-3 disadvantage in the third period to hang on to their two-goal lead. Players of the game were awarded to Kaitlyn Abbass of the Huskies and Brophy of the X-Women.
Tournament all-stars
Goalie: Sienna Cooke, Saint Mary’s
Defence: Jenna Pitts, St. FX
Defence: Rebecca Mosher, SMU
Forward: Brianna Soper, SMU
Forward: Jordan Miller, STU
Forward: Alex Normore, St. FX
Tournament MVP: Jenna Pitts, St. FX
