By Thomas Scott
With hot goaltending and top goal scorers, the Dalhousie Tigers are ready to build on last year’s playoff appearance after finishing 13-14-1 this year and ending the regular season sixth in the conference.
In the 2022-23 AUS playoffs, the Tigers lost a best-of-three series against the UPEI Panthers in the quarter-final. Looking to reverse last year’s result, Dal is facing the SMU Huskies in the quarter-final of the 2023-24 AUS playoffs. The first game of the best-of-three series is Wednesday at the Dauphinee Centre at 7pm.
SMU clinched the third seed this season, finishing with a 17-7-4 record. In the four regular season games played between the two Halifax teams, SMU has won all of them. However, this season Dalhousie’s Olivia Eustace is the top point scorer between the two teams, a point ahead of SMU’s Miranda Hatt.
In the playoffs last season, the Tigers went scoreless in two games. In the second game of the series, Dal won 4-3 in double overtime, with Eustace scoring the winner. Building on this experience could pay off for the Tigers and the mix of youth and veterans.
Dal’s goaltender, Grace Beer, is the backbone of the Tigers this season. She made the fifth most saves in the nation with a .938 save percentage. Beer’s most impressive game came against the first-seeded STFX X-Women and, at the time, the fifth-ranked team in U SPORTS. The second-year recreation major made 56 saves on Jan. 31 at the Halifax Forum, shutting out STFX to clinch a playoff berth. Beer made several remarkable saves in the 1-0 victory, including a toe save in the final minute.
In the next game, the Tigers continued their rollercoaster play and lost 4-0 against the then top-seed UNB Reds. Heading into the last game of the season, the Tigers had just scored five goals through six games. Thankfully, the Tigers re-discovered their goal-scoring against the UPEI Panthers in a 5-4 victory. Mackenzie Drake scored two goals in the win and tallied an assist for a three-point night. Dal scored four unanswered goals to finish the game.
The Tigers feature some of the premier offensive players in the conference. Eustace is fourth in the conference in scoring, with 15 goals in 28 games. Tallying 10 assists, Eustace scored 24 points this season. Twelfth in the conference in points is forward Brooklyn Paisley. The fifth-year psychology major tallied 21 points in 27 games this season, two points off last season’s career high.
The Tigers play the Huskies on Wednesday at SMU, Friday at the Halifax Forum, and, if required, Sunday at SMU, with each game starting at 7pm.