(FREDERICTON, N.B.) - A slow start cost the Tommies a 3-2 loss to the Mount Allison Mounties in the first game of a best 2-of-3 AUS quarterfinal series of the Subway AUS women's hockey championship at the Grant-Harvey Centre Tuesday night.
The Tommies were sluggish to start and didn't improve much throughout the period. They struggled to put pucks on net and didn't get a shot on goal until almost six minutes into the frame when the Mounties took a penalty.
It was Mount Allison who struck first, converting on one of their nine shots in the period, when Lindsay James snuck the puck past St. Thomas's Kristin Wolfe.
Moments after going down 1-0, Myfanwy Thomson was penalized for cross-checking, but the Tommies' penalty kill kept the game at a one-goal differential heading into the second.
The Tommies created a handful of promising scoring chances, two of which came from Thomson, but the Mounties defence was solid. The Tommies were outshot 11-8 in the second. But, much to the credit of Wolfe's strong performance between the pipes, they kept the game within reach.
Jennifer Bell scored shorthanded early in the third, giving the Mounties a 2-0 lead. A shot by Megan Entwistle took a bad bounce off Wolfe's stick and ended up in the back of the Tommies net, pushing the Mounties to a three-goal lead with 12 minutes left to play.
The Tommies found the score sheet midway through the frame when Erin MacIsaac profited off a scramble in front of Mounties netminder Kate O'Brien. Cassidy McTaggart scored on the wrap around moments later to bring the Tommies within one with 1:46 left to play.
Katie Brewster had a breakaway with less than a minute left, but O'Brien stuffed her to secure the win for the Mounties.
"It's odd for us to give up three goals," Tommies head coach Peter Murphy said. "The reality was that we had to play a little more than 11 minutes, they played 60 minutes and wanted the game, we played 11 minutes. You just have to put it behind you and say 'Look, we need Thursday's game.'"
The Tommies will travel to Mount Allison Thursday for the second game of the series, a must-win if they want to keep their AUS championship dreams alive. Game time is 7 p.m.
Source: St. Thomas Sports Information