X-Women shutout Mounties

The CIS #9 ranked StFX X-Women (15-1) made it 15 consecutive regular season wins with a victory over the visiting Mount Allison Mounties (4-10-1) Sunday afternoon in AUS hockey action at the Keating Centre in Antigonish.

The X-Women jumped to a 2-0 advantage after the first period.

At 1:38, Kara Power (New Glasgow, NS) roofed a shot glove side from the slot against Mountie goaltender Kate O'Brien (Greenwood, NS). Alex Normore (Bedford, NS) made the centering pass to Power, with line-mate Schyler Campbell (Galloway, NB) collecting the other assist.

After stealing a Mountie pass just inside her blue line, Connor Garagan (Fredericton, NB) broke in shorthanded and deposited a forehand behind O'Brien after a nifty deke. The goal was unassisted.

"I went hard to the net and took a shot and it went in," a modest Garagan said in the first intermission.

In the second period, the X-Women doubled their lead with a pair of goals 22 seconds apart.

At 16:42, defender Nicole Corcoran (Bloomfield, PE) tallied on the power play, on assists from Daley Oddy (Cranbrook, BC) and captain Taylor Dale (Oromocto, NB).

At 17:04, Lisa Downey (Stratford, ON) put in a rebound off a goal-mouth scramble to make it 4-0. Jenna MacDonald (Osgoode, ON) garnered the lone assist.

MacDonald, with a slap shot from just inside the Mountie blue line, scored the lone goal of the third period. Power, with her second point of the game, chipped in the assist.

Sojung Shin (Seoul, Korea) made 21 saves for the shutout win, while O'Brien turned aside 26 shots in the loss.

"We are happy with the win. We got the shutout, but we need to continue to tighten up in the defensive zone. We gave up too many chances," X-Women head coach Ben Berthiaume said after the game.

"At any level, playing strong defensive is the key to winning," he added.

The three stars for the game were Power, MacDonald and Bujold of the X-Women.

The Mounties return to action Wednesday, Jan. 14, when they travel to Halifax to face the Dalhousie Tigers.

The X-Women will continue their home stand Friday, Jan. 16 when the Saint Mary's Huskies visit the Keating Centre for a 7 p.m. start.

The St. Thomas Tommies are the opponents Sunday, Jan. 18, with puck drop scheduled for 3 p.m.

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