Panthers upset top seeded hockey X-Women

(Halifax, NS) – The AUS top seeded StFX X-Women will not be defending their AUS title as they were upset 2-1 by the UPEI Panthers Saturday afternoon in Subway AUS playoff action at Dalhousie Memorial Arena. The fourth seeded Panthers advance to play the third seeded Mount Allison Mounties, who knocked off second seed Moncton 5-4.

With the format of the two pools in the AUS women’s hockey championship, each win in regulation is worth three points, while an overtime win is worth two points and an overtime loss worth one. The Panthers lost 2-1 yesterday to the Tigers in overtime, picking up a single point, combined with their three-point win over StFX today gave them four points and the distinction of being the top team coming out of pool A. The X-Women had three points with their earlier 3-1 round robin win over Dalhousie.

Pool B saw a similar fate for the Mount Allison Mounties, who advanced with a win over Moncton and an overtime loss to St. Thomas.

In StFX’s game against the Panthers, special teams would prove to be the difference as both Panthers goals were scored on the power play. The CIS ranked No. 4 X-Women were sluggish getting out of the gate with neither team getting off many shots in the opening minutes of the game. The Panthers struck first as Jenelle MacKenzie scored a power play marker late in the period at 16:32, making a move around a StFX defender then drawing out X-Women goaltender Katie Greenway to find the back of the net. Laura Bradley picked up the assist. The 1-0 lead held at first intermission as shots were eight apiece for each team.

X-Women defender Jenna Pitts received a double minor penalty for contact to the head seven minutes into the second period, and the Panthers again took advantage of the extra attacker. A pass from Samantha Sweet gave Jessie-Anne Howard the open shot and she capitalized at 8:09 to give UPEI the two-goal advantage.

StFX had their best scoring opportunity later in the second when they were on a 5-on-3 power play after Ferran Brown and Justine Wong were sent to the box less than a minute apart. The X-Women peppered Panthers goaltender Kathy Dobson with shots but were unable to capitalize as she made several key saves. The 2-0 score held for the Panthers after 40 minutes of play as the X-Women held a 12-8 shot advantage in the middle frame.

The third period was all X-Women as the majority of the play took place in the UPEI end. StFX outshot the Panthers 14-1 in the final period and were finally able to find the back of the net at 16:17 when their consistent pressure resulted in a goal from Molly MacDonald. Daniela Falconio assisted on the play.

StFX continued the pressure in the dying minutes and hit a goal post with 2:48 remaining. With their net empty from 1:18 onwards, they were desperate to score the tying goal, but Dobson and Panthers were able to hold their ground and hang onto the 2-1 win, upending the top seed.

Final shots in the game were 34-17 for the X-Women. Dobson earned Subway Player of the Game honors for UPEI, while Molly MacDonald was the Subway Player of the Game for the X-Women.

With the win, the Panthers advance to their first ever AUS final against the Mount Allison Mounties, who also making their first appearance. Game time is 2:00 pm at the Dalhousie Memorial Arena. The winner will move on to represent the AUS conference at the CIS national championship in Edmonton next weekend at the University of Alberta.