Huskies advance to championship final with 3-1 win over Tommies

(SACKVILLE, N.B.) - The Saint Mary's Huskies were the first team to punch their ticket to Sunday's championship game of the Subway AUS women's hockey championship thanks to an exciting 3-1 win over the Saint Thomas Tommies in the final game of pool play for both teams.

Rookie of the year and first team AUS all-star Sienna Cooke was outstanding in goal yet again for the Huskies, making 36 saves, 24 of which came short-handed as Saint Thomas went 0-for-7 on the power-play, which turned out to be the difference in the game.

The Tommies spent a total of 22 minutes on the power-play in the contest, but the Huskies' penalty kill was up to the teask and Cooke made several key saves in the third period to help advance the Huskies into Sunday's championship final.

The Huskies opened the game with an early goal, as a Kaitlyn Abbass rush off the opening faceoff resulted in a rebound opportunity for captain Rebecca Mosher, who made no mistake to give SMU a 1-0 lead just 20 seconds into the first period.

The score remained 1-0 through the remainder of the first and second periods, which saw the Tommies double the Huskies in shots by a 20-10 margin.

The Huskies struck next on the power-play in the third period when Brianna Soper scored her tournament leading third goal of the weekend with a high wrist shot after walking off the side boards into the faceoff circle.

Saint Mary's then killed off a pair of two-man disadvantages before the Tommies got an injection of life when first team AUS all-star Kayla Blackmore and Kenya Marcelline combined to find Jordan Miller all alone in front to cut the deficit to 2-1 with just 2:15 left to play.

With goaltender Julia Sharun pulled and the extra attacker on the ice, the Tommies were unable to tie the game up, and Carly Gray's clearing attempt from the bottom of her own faceoff circle slid all the way down the ice and into the empty net to seal the deal at 3-1 with 11 seconds remaining.

Sharun made 12 saves in goal for Saint Thomas, while Cooke faced 37 shots, 17 of which came in the third frame.

The Huskies now advance to the championship game for the second time in the last four years, and perhaps more importantly, just one season removed from a 1-22-1 record in 2011-12.

Game time Sunday is at 4pm, and the Huskies will face either the StFX X-Women or UPEI Panthers.

All games of the 2013 Subway AUS women's hockey championship are available via webcast at www.AUStv.ca.

Source: Wray Perkin, Mount Allison Sports Information
Photo courtesy of Tom Reid Photography (http://www.tomreidphotography.com/)