(HALIFAX N.S.) - The Dalhousie Tigers fell to the St. Thomas Tommies by a score of 3-2 on Saturday October 29 at the Halifax Forum. This game marked the Pink the Rink event in which the Tigers wore pink coloured jerseys in honour of October's breast cancer awareness month.
The Tommies ran into some penalty trouble early on in the first period when Lauren Henman was penalized for tripping a Tigers player.
The Tigers power play unit displayed some excellent puck moving skills as they hemmed the Tommies penalty kill unit in their own zone for the full two-minute advantage. The Tigers would not capitalize but tested goaltender Taylor Cook with several shots.
Annika Rose of the Tigers would be the next player to sit two minutes in the sin bin after she held up an attacking Tommies forward. During this Tommies power play, a turnover by a Tigers player in the neutral zone allowed forward Alisha Gilbert to get a great short-handed partial breakaway. She was quickly denied by Tigers goaltender Jessica Severeyns.
Throughout the battle, the Tigers defence was having a tough time getting shots through from the point. The St. Thomas forwards did an outstanding job blocking the majority of Dalhousie's point shot attempts.
It wasn't until five minutes left in the period when STU player Samantha Squires got the first tally on the scoreboard. This would turn out to be the only goal of the period and gave the Tommies a 1-0 lead heading into the second period.
For the first half of the second period the Tigers seemed to take control of the game. Although they were creating many chances for themselves, they could not get any pucks past Tommies goaltender Taylor Cook. Cook had a fantastic evening as the net minder for the Tommies - stopping a total of 31 shots.
On one of their only breaks of the period, the Tommies took a two-goal lead when Emily Oleksuk put one past Severeyns. This would be the only goal of the period and would set the score to 2-0 for the Tommies heading into the final period of the game.
The Tommies took an early penalty in the first minute of the third but the Tigers power play, again, could not find the mesh behind Cook.
The Tigers would not get on the board until just over five minutes remaining in the battle when Annika Rose poked the puck past Cook in a scramble in front of the crease. The goal was assisted by Tara Morning.
The Tommies did not deteriorate after this Tigers goal, as they would come back even stronger and bury another one on Severeyns. Lauren Henman from the Tommies made a fantastic pass to Emily Oleksuk who had an easy tap in. This was Oleksuk's second of the night which made the score 3-1 for the Tommies with seven minutes remaining in the game.
The Tigers got another power play opportunity with just over three minutes left. Tigers head coach Sean Fraser decided to call a time out that ended up sparking the Tigers as they immediately came out and got a quick goal on Cook. Victoria MacIntosh rallied to score this goal which cut the Tommies lead to one.
The Tigers would pull their goalie with just under two minutes remaining but couldn't buy another goal with the extra attacker. Final score: 3-2 Tommies.
The Subway player of the game was Emily Oleksuk.
The Tigers next game will be Sunday October 30th against the Saint Mary's Huskies. Game time is 2 pm at the Alumni Arena.