CIS No. 6 X-Women improve lead atop AUS conference

The CIS ranked No. 6 StFX X-Women earned a decisive 6-2 win over the visiting Saint Mary’s Huskies Sunday afternoon in Antigonish. The X-women outshot their opponents by a 35-13 margin as Subway player of the game Aby Laking scored two goals.

It was the second consecutive game that the AUS league-leading X-Women had scored six goals in a game.

StFX wore special purple jerseys and socks in support of an ALS awareness and fundraiser game.

StFX opened the scoring just 2:15 into the game as freshman forward Taylor Dale scored off the backhand from her own rebound. Catherine Civitarese and Sara Kaljuvee assisted on the play.

Rebecca Mosher would tie the game for the Huskies before the period was up, scoring at 18:23 on a 5-on-3 power play.  Jenelle Rogers and Caitlyn Schell assisted. The X-Women outshot the Huskies in the opening frame 11-3.

The second period saw the X-Women open up the game with three consecutive goals, all within the first eight minutes of play. Erin Brophy scored on the power play (2:08) from Schyler Campbell and Alex Normore, then Aby Laking scored her first of the afternoon at 6:24. She picked the top corner on Huskies goaltender Sienna Cooke. Campbell and Normore each picked up another helper on Laking’s goal.

Hennigar notched StFX’s fourth goal after a scrum in front of the SMU net. Kaljuvee and Kelsey Farrell assisted on the play as Cooke was replaced by Bria Sharkey in the Huskies crease.

Saint Mary’s second goal came at 10:59 of the second period while on the power play. Haylee Tretiak scored on the rebound from a shot by Maggie Poliseno. Rebecca Johnson also assisted on the play.

Before the second period was up, the blue and white would score two more goals, their final ones of the match as the busy six-goal second period would be all the scoring in the game.

Laking scored an unassisted marker at 11:47, shooting the puck as she was falling to the ice to the left of Sharkey near the faceoff circle. The X-Women’s final goal came off the stick of Normore, as she rushed up the wing with Farrell and Alanna Grossutti, who picked up assists.

Shots were 14-6 in favor of StFX in the second period. The scoreless third period also saw the X-Women hold the shot advantage at 10-4 as the game wrapped up 35-13 in their favor.

Katie Greenway picked up the win for the X-Women with 11 saves. Cooke was tagged with the loss for SMU. She had 15 saves and Sharkey 14.

With the win the X-Women improve to 16-1-0 on the season and open up their lead atop the AUS conference with 32 points, seven up on second place St. Thomas (12-5-1). The Tommies will be the next opponents for the X-Women as they travel to Fredericton on Saturday, January 19th. They will follow up with another game on the road against the third place Aigles Bleues de Moncton (10-6-2) on January 20th.