X-Women increase lead atop AUS with 2 wins

The CIS ranked No. 6 X-Women hockey team picked up a pair of wins on home ice to open the second half of the AUS season. Saturday afternoon the blue and white defeated Moncton 2-1, then followed that up with a 6-1 victory over CIS ranked No.10 St. Thomas.

StFX wins battle of top two AUS teams

In Sunday’s victory over the Tommies, six different X-Women found the back of the net in the decisive 6-1 win. The Tommies were the first to hit the score sheet, early in the first period, but the X-Women responded with six unanswered goals.

Jordan Miller opened the scoring in the game, as her screen shot beat StFX netminder Kristy Garrow 3:43 into the first period. Caley Steinert assisted on the play.

Subway player of the game Daniela Falconio erased the lead with a goal for the X-Women at 8:34. She fired a shot on net which rang off the post and in past Tommies goaltender Julia Sharun. Erin Brophy picked up an assist.

Brophy picked up her second of three points on the day with a goal just under two minutes to play in the first period. Linemates Falconio and Molly MacDonald assisted as the X-Women held a 2-1 lead after one.

The league-leading X-Women scored three more goals in the second period, two on the power play. Sara Kaljuvee netted StFX’s third goal at 2:49 with assists going to Aby Laking and Alex Normore.

Midway through the period, with 14 seconds left in Tommies Danielle Miller’s hooking penalty, Cassidy McTaggart picked up a four minute major for contact to the head, extending an X-Women power play. Brittney Perkins responded with StFX’s fourth goal and their first on the power play at 9:39. Taylor Dale picked up the helper.

With McTaggart still in the box, Laking notched the second power play marker, extending the X-Women lead to 5-1. She one-timed a Jenna Pitts pass to beat Sharun.

Molly MacDonald rounded out the StFX scoring with a 16:06 third period goal. Brophy assisted as their line, along with Falconio, picked up seven points on the afternoon.

Garrow stood strong in the StFX net with 22 saves as the home team outshot the Tommies 37-23. Sharun was tagged with the loss.

X-Women grind out win over Aigles Bleues

In Saturday afternoon’s win over Moncton, the X-Women outshot the Aigles Bleues 40-21 and hung on for a 2-1 win. Jenna VanBelois made 38 saves in the Moncton net to keep her team in the game.

The X-Women struck early as fourth year forward Erin Brophy banged in a rebound to beat VanBelois 2:21 into the first period. Daniela Falconio picked up the assist on the play.

The 1-0 lead held through to the end of the first period as the X-Women outshot the visiting Aigles Bleues 16-4.

Shots in the second period were also slanted in StFX’s favor at 13-7, though Moncton got back into the game, evening it at one apiece with a Marie-Pier Arsenault goal at 12:10. Arsenault took a Catherine Dumas feed from behind the X net and squeezed the puck through the pads of X-Women goaltender Katie Greenway.

Moncton had five power play opportunities in the opening two periods and could not connect with the extra attacker.
When the X-Women were awarded their first power play chance late in the second period, they made no mistake as Alex Normore scored at 17:45. Brophy picked up her second point of the game with an assist as the X-Women held a 2-1 lead after forty minutes of play.

Normore would later leave the game midway through the third period after an on-ice collision with a linesman. She returned to play in Sunday’s game against the Tommies.

The third period saw the Aigles Bleues with two more power play chances but to no avail. Their best chance at tying the game came late in the final frame with a StFX high sticking penalty at 17:39. The X-Women were able to fight it off, however, and held onto the 2-1 victory.

Shots were 11-10 in favor of StFX in the third period and 40-21 overall. Greenway picked up the win for StFX, her fifth of the season.

Brophy earned Subway player of the game honors for the X-Women.

StFX improves to 15-1-0 on the season and lead the AUS with 30 points, seven ahead of second place St. Thomas (11-4-1) and eight up on Saint Mary’s (10-5-2). The X-Women picked up three wins without stepping onto the ice as the Dalhousie Tigers forfeited the remainder of their games on the 2012-13 season due to disciplinary measures handed down by the university pertaining to a hazing incident last fall.

The Tigers and X-Women had a make-up game slated for Jan. 26th which came from a postponed game in November, along with games on Jan. 27th and Feb. 9th. All three have been recorded as 1-0 wins for StFX. The entire AUS standings and results have been adjusted based upon Dalhousie’s forfeited matches. 

The Saint Mary’s Huskies will be the X-Women’s next opponent when StFX hosts the Halifax squad on Sunday, Jan. 11th. Game time is 2:00 pm at the Charles V. Keating Centre.