Capriotti shines in goal as Panthers defeat Huskies 2-1

HALIFAX, NS—UPEI goaltender Jonah Capriotti turned away 30 shots as the Panthers defeated the U SPORTS #6 ranked Saint Mary's Huskies 2-1 on Friday night at the Dauphinee Centre in Halifax. 

For the second straight meeting between these two teams, the Panthers took an early lead. Just under five minutes into the period forward Robert-Tye Rice (Invermere, BC) fired the puck behind the Huskies net where goaltender Matt Welsh (Halifax, NS) attempted to play it, but got tangled up with Jaden Peca (Woodbridge, ON), who got the puck back to Rice who scored to give UPEI a 1-0 lead just 4:32 into the action. 

The Panthers doubled their lead just 90 seconds later, as forward Danil Antropov delivered a cross-crease pass onto the stick of Drake Pilon (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) who was able to slide it past Welsh give the visitors a 2-0 lead just 6:01 into the first period.  

The Panthers outshot the Huskies 14-9 in the first period, but Welsh was solid in goal with 12 saves. 

Early in the second period it was Panthers goaltender Jonah Capriotti (Charlottetown, PEI) who delivered some highlight saves, robbing quality scoring chances from Andrew Coxhead (Bedford, NS) and Cameron Pound (White Lake, ON) on back-to-back possessions. 

The Huskies outshot Panthers 8-6 in the second period, and the Panthers took a 2-0 lead into the final frame. 

The Huskies were able to cut into the lead early in the third period with the Panthers on the powerplay, thanks to a great individual effort by Coxhead, who poked the puck away from two Panthers and roofed a top corner shot over Capriotti's shoulder for his sixth goal of the season, which cut the lead Panthers to 2-1, 2:56 into the third period.  

Saint Mary's had several more scoring opportunities throughout the final period but Capriotti was outstanding in the Panthers goal, turning away 13 of the 14 shots he faced in the frame. 

Capriotti was named Subway Player of the Game with 30 saves, while Huskies goaltender Matt Welsh stopped 25 shots.  

The Panthers win improved their record to 4-3 on the campaign. They'll return home to Charlottetown tomorrow for a matchup against the Acadia Axemen, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m. at MacLauchlan Arena. 

The Huskies loss dropped their record to 5-2-0 on the season. They'll be back in action next Friday, Nov. 4, as they host the St. FX X-Men at 7 p.m. at the Dauphinee Centre.  

RECAP BY: Allan April, SMU Huskies Athletics / PHOTOS BY: David Cox, SMU Huskies Athletics