X-Women defeat Tommies 4-3 in double OT thriller

Fredericton, NB – The U SPORTS No. 4 ranked StFX X-Women defeated the St. Thomas Tommies 4-3 in double overtime in AUS women's hockey action Friday night at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

Reigning U SPORTS player of the year Sarah Bujold was the overtime hero for StFX, scoring 1:53 into the second overtime period.

It was the Tommies who struck first in the game with their top line as Olivia Reid found the back of the net finishing high on StFX goalie Carley Molnar just over four minutes into play.

Molnar ended up leaving the game at the 13:58 mark due to an injury and was replaced by freshman netminder Cassidy McEwan.

St. Thomas scored again at 15:07 off their second shot against McEwan after the X-Women turned the puck over to Danielle Ring. She made no mistake on the ensuing breakaway, giving the Tommies a 2-0 lead over a powerful first place X-Women team.

The Tommies controlled the play for the majority of the first period, outshooting the X-Women 10-7.

The X-Women cut the Tommies' lead in half when Santana Gravelle lofted the puck in from the blueline to beat Abby Clarke just over nine minutes into the second period.

The Tommies held onto the 2-1 lead after 40 minutes but the X-Women continued to pour the pressure on when Emily Power deflected a shot from defender Lindsay Donovan to knot the score 2-2 at the 1:43 mark of the third period.

The Tommies responded three minutes later when Reid sniped her second of the game to re-establish St. Thomas' one goal lead.

The X-Women didn't back down, however, as Kristen McKinley responded at 12:14 to tie the game following a flurry of shots on the Tommies net to even the score up at 3-3.

The score held up through the end of the third period to force overtime.

After a scoreless five minutes of four-on-four, the X-Women put the final tally on the scoreboard in the second overtime when Sarah Bujold found her own rebound and buried it to lift the X-Women to victory.

Bujold earned Subway player of the game and first star honors for her game winners. Tommies Reid was second star and StFX's McKinley was the third star.

McEwan picked up the win in the StFX net with 25 saves. Molnar turned aside five pucks before her early exit. Clarke had 26 saves for the Tommies who outshot the X-Women 33-30 in the game.

The Tommies are back in action tomorrow night when they host the Saint Mary's Huskies at the Grant Harvey Centre at 7:00pm. The X-Women travel to Sackville to face the Mount Allison Mounties at 6:15 pm.

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Courtesy St. Thomas Sports Information