Panthers make it three wins in a row, skate by St. Thomas 5-1

(CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I.) - The UPEI Panthers defeated the St. Thomas Tommies 5-1 in front of 807 fans at the MacLauchlan Arena in Charlottetown.

In the final home game of 2014 the Panthers were looking to end the year on a high. They were able to do just that jumping out to a 2-0 lead after the first period.

Mason Wilgosh (Winnipeg, Man.) opened the scoring 7:21 into the period with Darcy Ashley (Brooklyn, P.E.I.) and David Mazurek (Brantford, Ont.) picking up assists.

The Panthers continued to apply pressure adding a power play goal 14:49 into the opening frame. Fifth-year defenceman, Reggie Traccitto (Oakville, Ont.) was credited with the goal off assists from Chris Desousa (Mississauga, Ont.) and Marcus Power (St. John's, Nfld.).

UPEI continued to pressure in the second period, adding two more goals to take a commanding 4-0 lead into the third.

The Panthers struck again just 2:50 after the first intermission off the stick of Travis McIsaac (Uigg, P.E.I.), assisted by Cole MacMillan (Stanhope, P.E.I.) and Chris Desousa.

The scoring would not stop there for the Panthers as they added their fourth goal just before the second intermission when Matthew Brenton (Stewiacke, N.S.) would break free for an unassisted tally.

St. Thomas' Matt MacLeod (Niagara, Ont.) was finally able to solve the Panthers' goalie, scoring a late one in the third period to cut UPEI's lead to 4-1. Felix-Antoine Poulin (St. Julie, Que.) and Colin Martin (London, Ont.) were credited with assists on the goal.

It would prove to be the only blemish in an otherwise dominant performance for Mavric Parks (Eganville, Ont.), stopping 30 of 31 shots faced.

Brent Andrews (Hunter River, P.E.I.) would score an empty net goal for UPEI in the last minute and a half, making the score 5-1 to finish off the Tommies. Marcus Power picked up his second assist of the game on the goal.

UPEI's Reggie Traccitto earned Subway player of the game honours, netting the game-winning goal and finishing with a +2 in the contest.

The Panthers (7-7-2), finishing the first semester on a three-game win streak, are back on the ice Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. against the AUS's top squad, the UNB Varsity Reds (12-2-2) in Fredericton, NB.

St. Thomas (1-12-3) will look to recharge over the holiday break and snap a three-game losing streak when they hit the ice again on Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. in Moncton versus the Aigles Bleus (6-8-2).

Source: Jonathan Lane for UPEI Sports Information