Panthers drop Tommies 6-2 in Friday night AUS men's hockey action

(FREDERICTON, N.B.) - The St. Thomas Tommies fell 6-2 to the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action Friday night at the Grant-Harvey Centre in front of 472 fans.

Reg Traccitto grabbed three points for the Panthers. Darcy Ashley and Colin Beck each had two.

Andrew Fritsch and Steven Janes tallied two points each for the Tommies.

The Panthers got on the board first after Ashley tipped a shot from Traccitto over the shoulder of Tommies netminder Tyson Teichmann. Just over a minute later, Mason Wilgosh followed suit to put the Panthers up 2-0 early.

"The first two goals were breakdowns," Tommies head coach Pat Powers said after the game. "We turn the puck over at the blue line and the second one we're jumping to a battle we don't need to and we're leaving ourselves over exposed in the slot."

The Tommies gave UPEI goaltender Matt Mahalak a few close calls, but couldn't find the back of the net in the first.

With 3:15 left in the period, Traccitto scored five-hole to give the Panthers a 3-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Nick Parker netted the Panthers' fourth goal, beating Teichmann low for a 4-0 UPEI lead.

Luke Lee-Knight took over the job between the pipes for the Tommies, but Chris Desousa put one past him late in the frame after finishing a cross-crease pass from Traccitto.

The Tommies showed some life in the third—Andrew Fritsch put them on the board at 7:57 when he burried a rebound on the power play.

Steven Janes added another marker for the home team to bring them within three of the Panthers with 4:30 to go.

Ashley stole the Tommies momentum with an empty net goal at 17:25 to seal the 6-2 victory.

"We're leading in shots, shot attempts, we're leading the face off battle, we're winning everything but the scoreboard," Powers said. "Guys are trying too hard sometimes and we're creating our own breakdowns. It's frustrating."

The Tommies are on the road tomorrow night against the Moncton Aigles Bleus, while the Panthers will face the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds.

Source: St. Thomas Sports Information