By Jack Longo
The University of New Brunswick REDS women's hockey team defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 3-2 in overtime at the Halifax Forum on Friday night. UNB's win moves them into first place in the AUS Women's Hockey standings.
UNB put Dalhousie under some early pressure in the first period but ultimately couldn't make the Tigers pay. A penalty for Dalhousie's Katie Cameron (Riverview, NB) with just over a minute gone in the game allowed UNB to set the tempo.
However, after Dalhousie successfully killed the penalty they were rewarded a few minutes later. With just under five minutes gone in the period, Dalhousie got on the board first. A quick wrist shot from Olivia Eustace (Riverview, NB) snuck in the top corner and gave Dalhousie a 1-0 lead.
The REDS continued to enjoy more of the puck in the first period and put the Dalhousie goal under threat multiple times. With five minutes remaining in the opening stanza Dalhousie's goalkeeper, Taylor Beam (Brooklin, ON), made a sprawling save to maintain the Tigers 1-0 advantage.
UNB continued to play on the front foot into the second period and eventually found their hard-earned first goal. With just over five minutes gone in the second, Alayna Wagstaff (Olds, AB) assisted Katherine Chadwick (Kanata, ON) on a two-on-one breakaway for UNB to level the score at 1-1.
This became a theme in the second period as both teams traded breakaway opportunities for the rest of the period. After a back-and-forth 15 minutes, Brooklyn Paisley (Shawnigan Lake, BC) was put through by Eustace for a one-on-one with the goalkeeper and buried the shot to restore Dalhousie's lead.
The Tigers started to rack up a few more penalties in the third period and it eventually cost them. Halfway through the period UNB evened the game for a second time as Payton Hargreaves (Whitby, ON) scored for the REDS on a power-play. Dalhousie had a couple late opportunities to score but were foiled twice by Kandra Woodland (Kamloops, BC) in the UNB goal.
The game wouldn't be settled in three periods as it took overtime to decide a winner in this hard-fought contest. UNB found their winner with a minute remaining in overtime thanks to a wonderful solo goal from Frederike Cyr (Candiac, QC). Cyr was named Subway Player of the Game.
Much like the last matchup between these two teams where UNB came away with a 2-1 victory, this was an evenly-matched game that ended with a one-goal margin of victory for the REDS.
UNB has now won four-straight and moves into first place with 19 points, while Dal's loss means they stay seventh, only a few points off the teams ahead of them.