Tigers fall in shootout to St. Thomas

The St. Thomas Tommies edged the Dalhousie Tigers 4-3 in a shootout in AUS men's hockey action Friday night in front of 523 spectators at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

Tommies netminder Tyson Teichmann made 40 saves in the win, while the Tigers' Corbin Boes turned away 34 shots in the loss.

"I think it was a hard-earned win," Tommies head coach Kyle McAllister said after the game. "They fought it a little bit, but we grinded it out and I think that's what we're building on and those are games we've got to squeak out."

The Tommies opened the scoring early when Bryce Milson finished a great pass from Andrew Fritsch on STU's first shot of the game. The lead was short lived though, as the Tigers took advantage of a JC Campagna five-minute major with a goal from Andrew Wigginton.

With 1:12 left on the clock, Matt MacLeod restored the Tommies lead with a wrister from the the slot.

Shots on goal in the opening frame favoured the Tommies, 12-9.

The Tigers came out strong in the second and dominated possession for most of the frame. They were rewarded six minutes into the period with a goal from Tanner Williams, who finished in tight on a tough angle to tie the game 2-2.

The Tommies had a few good chances, but the Boes kept them off the board.

"They pushed on us hard, and I think we gave up too many odd-man rushes," McAllister said. "I think we fought back from some heavy lapses and managed to recompose ourselves a few times."

Things got worse in the third when Williams buried his second of the game just 14 seconds into the third period to give the Tigers a 3-2 advantage. The Tommies continued to pressure for the equalizer and they eventually found it when Rankyn Campbell redirected a shot from Milson with six minutes to go.

"I think we're getting to the point know where when those negative situations happen we're not imploding on ourselves. We're finding ways to rebalance and regroup," McAllister said. "I think tonight was one of those times where it could have went bad but they stayed together and I'm proud of them."

Both squads worked to find the game-winner, but neither could find the back of the net before time expired. After a scoreless extra frame the game headed to a shootout.

The Tommies scored on two of their three shootout attempts—Dillon Donnelly netted the game-winner—and Teichmann stopped both Tigers attempts to give STU their second win of the season.

With the win, the Tommies improve to 2-17-1, while the Tigers drop to 5-13-3.

Milson was awarded the Subway AUS Player of the Game, while STU's Campbell and DAL's Williams were named the game's second and third stars, respectively.