Aigles Bleues top Tommies 5-1

(FREDERICTON, N.B.) - The St. Thomas Tommies fell 5-1 to the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues in AUS women's hockey action, Friday night in front of 96 fans at the Grant-Harvey Centre.

Katryne Villeneuve, Marika Lacroix, Marie-Pier Arsenault, and Natasha Bergeron each had two points for the Aigles Bleues.

Kelty Apperson, Becky Conner, and Michelle Savoie each had a point for the Tommies in a losing cause.

With the loss, the Tommies drop to .500 on the season with a 7-7-1 record.

"We should be better than that," Tommies head coach Peter Murphy said after the game. "I think we're leaning on the excuse that we have 10 rookies."

"We did some things well tonight, but against a team like that you have to do everything well or you're not going to win."

Moncton found the back of the net early, but the puck was kicked in and the goal was disallowed. The Aigles Bleues outshot the Tommies 14-10 in the frame, but STU netminder Abby Clarke stood tall to keep the game scoreless.

Cassidy McTaggart was called for tripping at the end of the first, giving the Aigles Bleues a power play to start the second. Katryne Villeneuve capitalized from the slot, giving Moncton a 1-0 lead early in the frame.

Moments later, Villeneuve struck again to put the Aigles Bleues up two.

"I didn't really care for the second period," Murphy said. "It didn't help us that when we took penalties it was one of our best penalty killers in the box."

Apperson put the Tommies on the board early in the third, but Natasha Bergeron responded for the Aigles Bleues on the next play to put Moncton up 3-1.

Penalties proved costly for the Tommies down the stretch as Natasha Bergeron scored from the point for the Aigles' second power play goal of the game.

Arsenault added an insurance marker on the power play with under a minute to go to secure the 5-1 win for Moncton.

The Aigles Bleues are back in action Saturday when they host the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers, while the Tommies will face the Panthers Sunday in PEI.

Source: St. Thomas Sports Information