X-Women shutout Tommies 2-0

Antigonish, NS - The U SPORTS No. 4 ranked StFX X-Women shut out the visiting St. Thomas Tommies 2-0 Friday night at the Charles V. Keating Centre. The victory extended the X-Women's winning streak to eight consecutive games as they sit atop the AUS conference with a 15-1-2 record. The third place Tommies now stand at 11-4-2.

The action started quick, with veteran X-Women forward Sarah Bujold (Riverview, NB) going high on Tommies goaltender Abby Clarke (Springdale, NL) just 48 seconds into the game. Nicole Corcoran (Bloomfield, PE) took a shot from the point which got tipped, and ultimately mishandled, in front of the net. Bujold found the loose puck and netted the X-Women's first tally of the evening.

The crowd of over 200 had their hopes dashed at 4:20 when a StFX goal was overturned immediately on the ice, as Jenna MacDonald (Osgoode, ON) was sent to the penalty box on a goaltender interference call.

Midway through the first period there was a stoppage of play when the referee left the ice due to an injury. A delay nearing 30 minutes ensued until a replacement referee could take over.

StFX outshot St. Thomas 14-5 in the first period as they held onto the 1-0 lead after 20 minutes of play.

The second frame saw 10 penalty minutes handed out before the X-Women added their second goal of the evening while on the power play. While St. Thomas' Becky Conner (East St. Paul, MB) was serving a two minute cross-checking penalty, Lindsey Donovan (Miramichi, NB) added the power play marker. Santana Gravelle (Lumsden, SK) started the play by dumping the puck into the Tommies zone and holding the line. After Bujold received the puck from Gravelle, she passed from the top of the circle to Donovan at the point. Donovan wound up and fired a slap shot past Clarke.

Shots in the second period were even at nine apiece.  

Despite strong play from both teams in the third period, and three power plays, the score remained at 2-0 in favour of the X-Women in the final twenty minutes of play.

Total shots in the game favoured StFX at 32-19 as Carley Molnar (London, ON) picked up her second consecutive shutout victory and fourth shutout of the season.

With her two-point night, StFX's Sarah Bujold earned first star and Subway player of the game honors. X-Women forward Emily Power was the second star and St. Thomas netminder Abby Clarke was the third star with 30 saves on the night.

StFX are at home for their next game, facing off against UPEI on Sunday at 2:00 pm. St. Thomas will travel to Dalhousie Saturday evening for a 7:00 pm puck drop.

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Courtesy Kiana Pace, StFX Sports Information