Antigonish, NS - The St. Thomas Tommies suffered their third consecutive loss to St. Francis Xavier University this Saturday with an 8-3 loss to the X-Women in what was the final game before the winter break for both teams.

Back and forth play in the first period foreshadowed a tight game, with both teams earning shots on net and playing physical. X-Women forward Tyra Meropoulis (Edson, AB) scored the first goal of the game, going top corner on a 2-on-1, giving her team the lead going into the first intermission.

With a slow start from the Tommies to start the second, the X-women improved their lead to 4-0, with back-to-back goals from Ellie Brown (Kemptville, ON) near the halfway mark, and aggressive penalty killing against STU's multiple powerplays. St. Thomas wasn't ready to give up, though, and turned on the jets in the final minutes of the second period to cut StFX's lead to two. Mariah Carey (Avonport, NS) scored the first for STU, and her goal was quickly followed by Brooke Stanford's (Whitby, ON) first of the season off a slapshot.

Down 4-2 to begin the third, St. Thomas pushed hard in their last period of play, but ultimately the X-Women's efficient powerplay and two goals by Maggy Burbidge (Falmouth, NS) made the gap too large for another third period comeback for STU.

After showing great resilience to battle back in yesterday's game, St. Thomas head coach Peter Murphy says the team "left everything on the ice today, despite being short staffed and playing a strong, rested team." He added that STU's goal in the third was "indicative of the pride the team has, and despite the loss we only expect improved results in the second half."

Both teams are now finished the first semester of play and will have to wait until January to resume their respective AUS schedules.

Recap - Martina Barclay