Tommies bounce back with win over Dalhousie Tigers 6-4

(FREDERICTON, N.B.) - The St. Thomas Tommies men's hockey team grabbed two badly-needed points with a 6-4 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers at the Grant-Harvey Centre in Fredericton Saturday night.

Team captain Felix Poulin scored two goals and was named the first star of the game, while Michael Beaudry, a recent addition to the team, netted one goal and one assist. Alexandre Leduc also scored two goals, including into the empty net at the end of the game, which was assisted by goaltender Jon Groenheyde.

Tigers' goalie Bobby Nadeau made 27 saves, while Groenheyde stopped 25 shots.

Tommies assistant coach Quade Lightbody, who led the bench during the game, said he was particularly impressed with the line of Leduc, Yuri Cheremetiev, and Kody Orr and added that Randy Cameron was an integral part of the victory.

"The line of Leduc, Cheremetiev, and Orr had a real solid game. As did Randy Cameron, [Stephen] Sanza, [Jonathan] Bonneau... Randy won a lot of face-offs and probably played his best game of the season tonight."

Dalhousie was up 3-1 at the end of the first period, despite shots only being 9-7 in their favour.

Lightbody said the team had to do a lot of mental work to change their attitudes after losing 9-1 to the Acadia Axemen the night before.

"After last night's loss, we had a lot of soul searching to do. We had a big loss against UNB as well in exhibition play, and we really needed to get back on track," he said.

"We just really needed to get back to basics and back to simple hockey."

The Tommies started the second period with lots of energy, getting several chances early in the period. Beaudry scored STU's second goal at 14:03 during 4-on-4 play, while Matt Bissonette tied the game up at 15:45.

Chris Donnelly, head coach of the Tigers, knew the game would be close. 

"We had a good jump in the first period and obviously some turnovers led to scoring opportunities, but that's the way the league works," he said. 

Donnelly said that the Tigers and the Tommies have always played similar games and the games are never boring.

"It's two teams that have been close for the last couple of years. Unfortunately, we're at the wrong end of the standings but we're both in the same talent pool and it's an entertaining game."

Source: St. Thomas Sports Information