Huskies drop tight one to Tigers

The Saint Mary's University Huskies returned to the ice Saturday as they played host to their cross-town rivals Dalhousie Tigers as AUS Men's Hockey returned after a prolonged stoppage after Christmas break due to the ongoing global pandemic.

The opening frame saw both teams skate off the rust of a long layoff due to covid finding their own as the period progressed and sizing each other up.   The visiting Tigers struck first as they capitalized on a power play as Cameron Thompson put one past Matt Welsh (Halifax, NS - Commerce) at the 15-minute mark – Matt Green and Shaun Miller had the assists.  The Huskies fell into a deeper hole 40 seconds later when Dalhousie's Evan MacKinnon found the twine on a pass from Christian Huntley to go up 2-0.

The Huskies got themselves on the board before the end of the period when Walter Flower (Lunenburg, NS - Commerce) righted the ship with his goal at the 17-minute mark.  Assists went to Keith Getson (Bridgewater, NS – Arts) and Joel Bishop (St. John's, NL – Commerce) as the Huskies ended the period down 2-1.

The home squad came out in the second creating some pace and tied the match 5 minutes in on a goal by Andrew Coxhead (Bedford, NS – Commerce) with assists going to Justin MacPherson (East Gwillimbury, ON – Commerce) and Cameron Pound (White Lake, ON – Science). 

The Tigers seemed to have the better of the Huskies as they pushed ahead on an unassisted tally from Huntley to go up 3-2.  They added to their lead with another in the last minutes of the period to go ahead 4-2 on another goal by Thompson who was assisted by Green on the play.

The third period saw the Huskies claw back with a score by Bradey Johnson (Lindsay, ON – Arts) unassisted 2 minutes into the final frame to close the gap 4-3.

Dalhousie once again put some space on their lead with a marker at the halfway point of the period by Green on a pass from Aiden Jamieson. 

The Huskies brought the lead to one again on a power play goal from Nathan Dunkley Campbellford, ON – Commerce) with assists to Caelan MacPhee (Ancaster, ON – Arts) and Cedric Ralph (Peterborough, ON – Arts). 

The home squad putting the pressure in the final minutes looked liked they tied the game but the goal was waved off as the net had come off its moorings.  Tigers backstop Reilly Pickard help his ground and kept the Tigers ahead to win the game 5-4. 

AUS Subway Player of the Game was Dalhousie's Matt Green with a goal and an assist.

Welsh finished the game with 40 saves on 41 shots earning him AUS Subway Player of the Game. 

The Huskies are back in action on Sunday as they head to Antigonish to take on the StFX X-Men.

The Tigers host those same X-Men on Wednesday in Halifax.  

Source: SMU Athletics