Huskies win big against Tigers

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The Saint Mary's Huskies (6-6-0) beat the Dalhousie Tigers (1-10-1) in Wednesday night AUS men's hockey action by a score of 9-3.

The Huskies had goals from eight different scorers while Steven Beyers, Cory Tanaka, and Matt Tipoff led the way with four points each as SMU avenged last week's loss suffered at the hands of the Tigers, a game in which their offence could only muster one goal.

The Huskies' offensive barrage began three minutes into the first period when forward Steven Shipley spotted linemate Matt Tipoff at the side of the net and fed him a neat pass for an easy tap-in. A little over a minute later, defenceman Jamie Doornbosch snuck down from the blue line, gathered a loose puck, and roofed a wrist shot over the glove of Tigers goaltender Bobby Nadeau.

The third goal of the game was executed in highlight reel fashion when forwards Cory Tanaka and Francis Menard worked a give-and-go. Menard drove to the net and slapped home a no-look pass from Tanaka.

As the halfway mark of the period approached, Steven Beyers scored a power play goal after a quick sequence in which all five Huskies touched the puck. Before the first twenty minutes could end, Beyers capped off a five-goal period when his cross-crease pass was deflected into the net by a Tigers defenceman, his team-leading eighth of the season.

Wendell Vye replaced Bobby Nadeau in the Tigers' net to begin the second period and Dalhousie wasted no time getting on the scoreboard.

At the 0:59 mark of the frame, Andrew Lanagan picked the glove-side corner with a wrist shot, reducing the deficit to four goals. But the Huskies' Stephen Johnston scored four minutes later, beating Vye at a bad angle.

Dalhousie's Andrew Wiggington scored his first of two goals on the night with just under seven  minutes to play to round out the second period scoring. SMU led by a 6-2 margin after 40 minutes.

The Huskies added three more goals in the third period including one from freshman defenceman Cameron Wind, the first of his CIS career.

Ryan Hillier and reigning CIS player of the year Lucas Bloodoff had the other Saint Mary's goals, while Wiggington netted his third of the season on the power-play late in the contest.

Matt Tipoff's four points in the game give him 17 on the season, good enough for second place in AUS scoring.

Anthony Peters stopped 32 of 35 shots to pick up his second win in as many starts since returning from a groin injury on Saturday.

Saint Mary's will play back-to-back road games this weekend, their last games before the December break. They will visit St. Thomas on Friday and UPEI on Saturday. 

The Tigers will host the UNB Varsity Reds Friday evening and the Moncton Aigles Bleus Saturday. All four games are scheduled to begin at 7:00pm and will be available via webcast at www.AUStv.ca.

Source: Saint Mary's Sports Information