Third period surge pushes Huskies by Panthers

HALIFAX, NS—The Saint Mary's University Huskies returned home Wednesday night in AUS Men's Hockey action as they played host to the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers.  

The Huskies seemed to have a step on the Panthers from the opening puck drop as they pressured the visitors in their own end in the opening minutes.  The pressure paid off as the home squad put one past UPEI goalie Lucas Fitzpatrick on a nifty shot from Jacob Durham (Port Perry ON / Commerce) on a pass from Dennis Busby (Oro-Medonte ON / Arts) to put the Huskies up 1-0. 

The Panthers roared back minutes later when they found themselves on a 2 man power play and Captain Owen Headrick evened the score 1-1.  UPEI grabbed hold of the lead minutes later as Andrew Picco put one past Matthew Welsh (Halifax / Arts) to go up 2-1. 

The teams battled defensively until 5 minutes into the second period when Huskies rookie Justin MacPherson (East Gwillimbury ON / Commerce) evened the score at 2-2.  Bolstered by strong goaltending from both squads the game remained deadlocked at 2 going into the final frame. 

An early surge by the Huskies in the first 5 minutes of the period sealed the fate for the Panthers as they put 3 on the board to go up 5-2.   Sam King (Hampton NB /Commerce put the home team up 3-2.  The Panthers feel into penalty trouble and the Huskies scored on consecutive power plays; first Bradley Johnson (Lindsay ON/ Arts) found the back of the net and then Huskies captain Mitchell Balmas (Sydney NS / Commerce) scored less than a minute later increasing the lead to 5-2. 

The resilient Panthers looked to find a spark put were stopped by Welsh as the Huskies held on for a hard-fought victory. 

Welsh finished the game with 37 saves while his counterpart Fitzpatrick tallied 23 stops. 

AUS Subway Player of the Game was Saint Mary's Justin MacPherson who led all scorers with a goal and two assists.  

The Huskies are in action again as they travel to the valley to take on the Acadia Axemen on October 22,  

The Panthers play host to the same Axemen on Saturday in Charlottetown.

Recap and Photos: SMU Athletics