Tigers lose 2-1 in OT at AUS championship
Ben Grondin made 10 saves in the Tigers 2-1 overtime loss to the Saint Mary's Huskies Thursday afternoon in game one of the AUS championship in Cape Breton.
(Sydney, NS) - The first game of the men's division kicked off as the Dalhousie Tigers faced off against the SMU Huskies. The game started off as the Tigers were hot testing SMU Keeper Jenson Brown (Enfield, NS), who had to make a diving save to keep the game scoreless. Tigers keeper Ben Grondin (Clagary, AB) also had to make a diving save, as both keepers were on their A-Game tonight.
In the 13th minute Jacob Bolton (Halifax, NS) got past the SMU fullbacks and keeper to score the first goal of the game and give Dalhousie a 1-0 lead. After the goal SMU had a few opportunities to tie up the match but shots from their strikers went above the net or wide. A shot by Alex Black (Halifax, NS) hit the post to keep the game 1-0. It did get tied up however because in the 20th minute Alex Black (Halifax, NS) found himself on the stat sheet finding Tyler Dorey (Dartmouth, NS) for the beautiful goal to open up the scoring for SMU and tie the game 1-1.
The second half started off by SMU just pelting Tiger Keeper Ben Grondin (Clagary, AB) with shots from every angle. Grondin was a huge factor on why Dalhousie was tied 1-1 for so long.
The Tigers got a breakaway of their own in the 87th minute and Jenson Brown (Enfield, NS) had to make back to back saves of his own.
Extra time started out rough and tough with Dalhousie getting a great look early but a save by the keeper Jenson Brown and then SMU darted down the field and got a great cross over to James Spence but Grondin made another breathtaking save. After a scuffle in front of the net SMU Midfielder Neil Spires (Hubley, NS) scored to give SMU the 2-1 lead with a few minutes to go. That ended up being the game winner as the Huskies took this game 2-1 and advanced to the next round.
Player of the game for Dalhousie Tigers: Ben Grondin
Player of the game for SMU Huskies: Cian Tousignant- O Siadhail
The Huskies will take on the host and number 1 seed Cape Breton CAPERS Friday at 2pm in the first men's semi-final of the day.