(MONCTON, N.B.) - A goal by Natasha Bergeron with 28 seconds left to play in the second overtime period lifted the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues to a 2-1 win over the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers in the first game of the best 2-of-3 quarterfinal series of the Subway Atlantic University Sport women's hockey championship, Tuesday evening at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena.
The second game will be held on Friday evening in Charlottetown. A third, if needed, will be held in Moncton, on Saturday.
Bergeron took a pass from Élisa Savoie about 30 feet in front of the net and let go a shot that hit the top of the net for the winning goal, lifting the many fans onto their feet.
Catherine Dumas (from Amélie Dion and Marie-Pier Arsenault) had evened the score to 1-1 at 13:44 of the third period on the power-play.
Jessie Howard put the visiting Panthers up 1-0 with 27 seconds left in the second period.
There was no first period scoring as Moncton dominated with 17-7 on shots on goal. Both goaltenders played well. Gabrielle Forget blocked 31 shots in front of the Moncton net compared to 37 for Marie-Soleil Deschênes in 90 minutes of play.
"This victory takes a bit of pressure from our shoulders for the second game in Charlottetown," said Moncton coach Denis Ross. "This was a great playoff game. We did have a difficult second period, but we came back strong in the third as we did in the first and the overtime. We were nervous in the overtime, it was a goaltender's game. The second game will also be hard fought and we will have to play our style."
"The play was intense and in my head, I wanted to shoot on the net," said Natasha Bergeron about her winning goal. "We did have a number of scoring chances before, but without success. Our hard work paid off. We came back strong in the third period. This was real playoff hockey. The first goal energized us and put us back in the game. The play was physical and we played five periods. We needed to give a second effort. We were nervous, but it was a good stress."
Source: Moncton Sports Information