By Troy Langstaff
The #5 ranked StFX X-Women came into town and spoiled senior night for the Dalhousie Tigers defeating them 5-0 at the Forum in what could potentially be a first round playoff match-up.
Prior to puck drop the Tigers honoured senior players Keana Oshowy (Woodbridge, ON), Autumn Moors (Ottawa, ON), Taylor Joyce (Halifax, NS), Ariana Pinchuk (Sherwood Park, AB) and goalie Taylor Beam (Brooklin, ON) who were all playing in their final regular season home game as members of the Dalhousie Tigers.
The first few minutes of the game saw Dalhousie with the better chances. Alix Yallowega (Winnipeg, MB) had her initial point shot saved by StFX goalie Jamie Johnson and Olivia Eustace (Riverview, NB) couldn't bury the second chance opportunity from the side of the net.
Both teams had a pair of two on one rushes in the first frame but neither team could capitalize on the odd man rushes. Instead, it was a powerplay marker off the stick of Tyra Meropoulis that opened the scoring. Her hard wrist shot from just inside the blue line found the top right corner of the net past a screened Beam to give the visiting team the lead.
With just over two minutes left in the opening period the X-Women extended their lead to two. Josie Chisolm had the puck in the slot and slid a weak shot on goal that deflected off a skate and past Beam who was sliding the other way.
StFX led 2-0 at the first intermission.
The Tigers started the second period with lots of energy and were the better team for the first five minutes of the frame. Abby Wamboldt (Hammonds Plains, NS) had a chance off an early face off but was denied by Jamie Johnson. Just a minute later Eustace almost beat Johnson on the wrap-around but a good defensive play by the X-Women ended the opportunity.
Dalhousie was doing an excellent job of keeping the X-Women to the outside of their zone forcing them to take long range shots that resulted in easy saves for Beam. They would however find themselves in penalty trouble during the middle of the frame that would kill their momentum.
Lacey Dimaulo increased the lead to 3-0 when she buried her own rebound from the side of the net at the 13:14 mark of the period.
A few minutes later Emma Penner (Niagara on the Lake, ON) found herself on a partial break after blocking a shot and tried to go five-hole on Johnson but she shut the door.
The X-Women carried their 3-0 lead into the final 20 minutes.
StFX leading scorer Maggy Burbidge had an excellent chance to put her name on the score sheet when she found herself in the slot, but her wrist shot was stopped by Beam.
Just past the mid-way mark of the frame the Tigers were on the penalty kill but a blocked shot by Brooklyn Paisley (Shawnigan Lake, BC) rolled into the StFX zone and forced Johnson to play the puck. Paisley knocked the puck off her stick but just slid her shot wide of the open net.
Johnson made 19 saves for her second shutout of the year as her team would add two empty net goals en route to the 5-0 win.
Tyra Meropoulis was named player of the game with a goal and an assist.
It was the final game of the season for StFX who will play next in the AUS quarter finals next week.
Dalhousie's season finale is tomorrow when they visit the St. Thomas Tommies at 7pm.