Aigles Bleues blank Panthers 3-0

(MONCTON, N.B.) - Rookie Katryne Villeneuve scored twice for a second evening in a row to lead the Moncton Aigles Bleues (12-3-1) to a 3-0 win over the UPEI Panthers (5-8-2) in an AUS women's hockey game Saturday evening at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena, in front of 200 spectators.

The Aigles Bleues scored a goal per period and goaltender Gabrielle Forget faced 27 shots to register her fourth shutout of the season.

Villeneuve (from Marika Lacroix and Cassandra Labrie), put the Aigles on the board in the first period. She led the attack again on the power play in the third with the help of Natacha Bergeron and Marie-Pier Arsenault.

Marie-Pier Corriveau (from Danielle Eustace and Manon Lamarre) had the other marker in the middle stanza.

Moncton had a 35-27 advantage on shots on goal. Marie-Soleil Deschênes was the losing keeper. Villeneuve also scored twice on Friday evening in the 5-1 win over the Tommies.

"This was not our best team performance, we gave up too many shots," said Subway player of the game, Katryne Villeneuve. "We were not able to capitalize on all our power plays tonight, compared to Friday when we were 100 per cent. We can still do better. My second goal, on the power play at the beginning of the third, set the momemtum for the rest of the game. We have a good start to the second semester with two wins."

Goaltender Gabrielle Forget was happy with her performance. "This is my fourth shutout this season," she said. "The game went as I expected. We played well and most shots were from a good distance. My defenceman did a good job of blocking shots."

Coach Denis Ross said his troop controlled the play during the game. "We had a number of situations where our goaltender kept us in the game," said Ross. "We were able to launch a number attacks during the game. We missed a number of chances, especially in the first when we had 19 shots on goal. We were not able to finish our plays and their goaltender did a great job. This is a good start for the second semester."

The Aigles will travel to Sackville Friday evening for an encounter against the Mount Allison University Mounties (4-8-2) at 7 p.m.

The Panthers will host the St. Thomas Tommies tomorrow, Sunday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m.

Source: Moncton Sports Communications