By Mark Moffat
In AUS women's hockey action at the Halifax Civic Centre, the Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 2-0 in a game where a few, crucial plays decided the outcome.
In the first period, the Huskies got a real good chance when Sarah Rumbell (Toronto, ON) skated smoothly through the neutral zone with the puck about eight minutes in and let off a wrist shot from the circle that was stopped. The Tigers got a great chance of their own when Annika Rose (North Vancouver, BC) let off a one time shot from the circle that was stopped about three minutes later. Then, Rumbell got a breakaway about a minute later that was stopped to keep the game scoreless. The Tigers tried again for the first goal when Jesse Rietveld (Pelham, ON) got a pass while skating in, but her shot was stopped a few seconds after Rumbell's breakaway. The Huskies broke the deadlock when Subway Player of the Game Laura Horwood (Grandfalls-Windsor, NL) let off a shot from the top of the circle that went through some legs and into the net at 18:14 to make 1-0 after the first period.
The second period saw the absence of penalties from the first continue, with the first of only two infractions being called at 7:14. The Huskies got a chance to double the lead when Nicole Blanche (Dunville, NL) put a quick wrist shot from the circle on goal with about eight minutes left in the period; but was stopped. The Huskies kept the chances coming when Kaitlin Howarth (Thunder Bay, ON) unleashed a snapshot from the top of the circle that was stopped three minutes later to keep the score 1-0 after two periods.
As the third period was in progress, the Huskies got a big defensive stop when Leandra Timmerman (Rathwell, MB) prevented a potential Dalhousie break in the neutral zone with about nine minutes left. Dalhousie kept pressing for the equalizer despite only having four shots in the first period and three in the second. Dalhousie's comeback would be cut short when Blanche fired a wicked wrist shot from the top of the circle in at 16:57 to seal the win for the Huskies.
The Huskies outshot the Tigers 27-13. Rebecca Clark (Keswick, ON) made 13 saves to get the shutout for the Huskies, while Fabiana Petricca (Woodbridge, ON) stopped 25 shots for the Tigers.
The next game for the Huskies is tomorrow against the StFX X-Women at Alumni Arena at 2:00 pm, while the Tigers next see action this Friday against the X-Women in Antigonish at 7.