Mounties fall short versus Saint Thomas

The St. Thomas University Tommies defeated the Mount Allison Mounties 3-1 in AUS women's hockey action Sunday afternoon at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

The first period presented great scoring opportunities on both sides, but with stellar goaltending from the Mounties and strong defensive hockey by the Tommies, the game was scoreless after 20 minutes.

Lauren Legault opened the scoring 8:49 into the second period on a rebound created by Paige Jackson to put the Tommies up 1-0.

Less than three minutes later, Danielle Ring busted into the zone and scored on a rocket of a shot to make it 2-0 for the Tommies.

The Tommies didn't stop there as Legault scored her second of the game, burying another rebound for a 3-0 lead.

Tommies head coach Peter Murphy was pleased with the second period outburst by his team.

"We've got a lot of offence on our team," Murphy said. "There were lots of other players who scored for us today outside of our top line."

The Mounties responded in the third period when Gabrielle Vautour got the puck up to Maddy Koughan, who roofed a shot over Tommies goaltender Abby Clarke.

"It was just a chip and then someone got caught up ice," Murphy said of the goal. "There is something there that we need to work on."

Abby Clarke made 27 saves for the win and Murphy was pleased with that performance.

"She definitely gave us every opportunity to keep the lead," Murphy said. "The team in front of her didn't seem to be going for the puck as well as in the first two periods."

The Tommies go into the holiday break on a four-game winning streak and remain in first place in the AUS conference with a 12-1-1 record.

The Tommies resume play when they host the St. Francis Xavier X-Women on January 7 and Mount Allison resumes when they host the Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleues on January 6.