No. 5-ranked X-Women win 15th consecutive game

(ANTIGONISH, N.S.) - The CIS No. 5-ranked StFX X-Women widened their lead atop the AUS standings with a 5-2 home win over the Mount Allison Mounties for their 15th consecutive victory in regular season play.

Subway player of the game Katie Greenway picked up her seventh win between the pipes. The fourth year veteran goalie had 22 saves in the X victory.

Five different X-Women found the back of the Mounties net, while Alex Normore picked up three assists to give her a league-leading 27 points.

The X-Women opened the game with a pair of scoring chances as Molly MacDonald had a breakaway chance and Erin Brophy hit the goal post.

Fourth-year forward Brittney Perkins finally solved Mounties goaltender Meghan Corley-Byrne at 14:18 as her quick shot through traffic from the slot found its way in. Schyler Campbell and Taylor Dale assisted.

The X-Women outshot the Mounties 10-5 in the opening frame.

The second period saw the Mounties comeback to outshoot the home team 14-10 and tie the game with a goal by Courtney King at 7:07. After making the initial save on a shot on goal, King pounced on the rebound to beat Greenway. Sara Hubble and Sara Gagnier picked up assists.

Sara Kaljuvee regained the lead for the X-Women with three minutes left in the second period as she took a MacDonald pass in front of the net, flipped it to her backhand and roofed it past Corley-Byrne. Normore also collected an assist on the play.

The third period belonged to the X-Women as Aby Laking and Brophy netted power-play goals to give the X-Women a 4-2 edge. Laking's goal came at 9:02 from Alyssa Hennigar and Normore as she banged in a loose puck in front of the Mount Allison net. Brophy scored at 12:53 from Jenna Downey and Normore, scoring on a shot from the slot.

The Mounties scored their second goal of the game at 13:49 as Lauren Oickle caught Greenway out of position after a save, and knocked the puck into the open net. Shelby Colton assisted.

Freshman forward Taylor Dale wrapped up a three-goal X-Women third period with an unassisted, shorthanded marker at 15:11. Dale stole the puck and broke in alone outside the Mounties blue line, notching her seventh goal of the year.

Shots ended up 32-24 in favor of the X-Women, who improved to 20-1-0 atop the AUS conference with 40 points, 13 more than second place St. Thomas (13-7-1).

The sixth place Mounties, hosts of the 2013 Subway AUS women's hockey championship, dropped to 5-11-4 with the loss.

Next up on the StFX schedule is a game in Halifax on Sunday, February 10th against the third place Saint Mary's Huskies (12-7-2).

Source: StFX Sports Information
Photo courtesy of Erica Roberts (http://ericahphoto.com/)