REDS Down Tommies In OT

(FREDERICTON, NB) Hillary Wood (Miramichi, NB) scored her first Atlantic University Sport goal 3:24 into overtime to lift the UNB REDS to a 2-1 win over the visiting St. Thomas Tommies, Friday night at UNB's Aitken Centre.

Wood pounced on a loose puck in front of the St. Thomas net and fired home the game-winner.

"It was pretty exciting, especially STU, big rival," said Wood, named Tim Horton's Player of the Game. "We kind of owed them. We took a period off there, but I think we all played good there at the end and that's all that matters, and getting the goal there at the end was definitely exciting."

Wood's goal decided a closely fought game that saw the home team open the scoring less than two minutes in.

Katelyn Scott (Almonte, ON) cruised into the slot and fired a hard wrist shot past Tommies' goalie Katie Sweeney (Techumseh, ON) at the 1:54 mark, giving UNB an early 1-0 lead, a lead UNB would carry into the first intermission.

In the second, the Tommies put significant pressure on the REDS, outshooting the hosts 9-1 through the first 12-plus minutes of the period.

UNB also spent most of the second period killing penalties, and the Tommies were able to take advantage.

With the REDS serving a fourth straight penalty, Amber Daley (Regina, SK) scored an unassisted power-play goal to pull St. Thomas even.

"We have to stay out of the box," said REDS' head coach Sarah Hilworth. "We have to be mindful of our sticks, mindful of our bodies. We have to make sure we're doing the right things, and it just came down to not playing REDS hockey. We have to be smarter."

The Tommies held the REDS to just two shots in the second period while registering 15 of their own.

Defence prevailed in the third period, with neither side willing to give up big chances.

STU's Aimee O'Neill (Glace Bay, NS) did manage a late chance, breaking down the right wing and getting a shot off that was turned aside by REDS' goalie Cassie McCallum (Rothesay, NB).

Through three periods, the Tommies outshot the REDS 30-20.

Less than a minute into overtime, Tommies' forward Nadia Lavoie (St. Isidore, AB) raced in alone on McCallum who made a blocker save to keep the home team alive.

"She was awesome," said Wood, of McCallum. "Especially the breakaway at the start of OT, she was on her toes all night."

That set the stage for Wood's heroics.

She followed Scott into the Tommies' zone on a two-on-one rush. Scott managed a shot that Sweeney stopped, but Wood was right there to hammer the rebound in.

"Scotty had the puck and she shot and I thought I might as well just go to the net and next thing you know it's in the back of the net," said Wood.

"I wanted her out there in overtime," said Coach Hilworth. "I wanted to build some confidence and some trust with her out there and I knew she could come through with us. She definitely thread the needle for us, got us exactly what we needed at the end of the day."

With the win, UNB is now 2-1-0-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) while the Tommies are 1-1-1-0.

Up next for St. Thomas, a Saturday evening trip to Moncton for a 7:00pm face-off.

The REDS are back in action on Saturday as well, playing host to the UPEI Panthers. That game is scheduled for a 7:00pm start.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics