Sweeney leads Tommies to 2-0 win over X-Women in Game 1 of semifinals

(ANTIGONISH, N.S.) Superb goaltending from Katie Sweeney and timely scoring helped the St. Thomas Tommies to a close 2-0 win over the STFX X-Women in AUS semi-final action Friday night.   

Sweeney had 35 saves on the night, earning Player of the Game and first star honors along the way. The win gives the Tommies a 1-0 advantage in the best of five series.   

St. Thomas came out of the gate with energy, but after surviving an early flurry of shots, the X-Women picked up the pace and started to pull ahead in scoring chances. The Tommies lit the lamp first, as Katelin Moffatt picked up a loose puck along the boards deep in the STFX zone and fired one high 11 minutes into the game.  

The X-Women tried to retaliate while on the powerplay minutes later but couldn't break the St. Thomas penalty kill. The Tommies almost capitalized again following a strange bounce off the back boards, but the period ended 1-0.   

STFX continued to hold the advantage in shots in the second period, but it was the Tommies who found the back of the net, as Megan Kirkpatrick snagged a pass from Aimee O'Neil and went high blocker side to make it 2-0 with 10 minutes to go in the stanza.  

The physicality picked up from that point and the period ended without further score. The X-Women held a 28-16 shot advantage through 40 minutes.  

The Blue and White pressed to get back into the game in the third period, but Sweeney continued to turn aside everything thrown at the Tommies net.  

Bianca Zak, who finished with 20 stops on the night, made some big saves in the final 20 minutes to keep STFX in the game, but the X-Women weren't able to break the shutout, despite outshooting rhe Tommies 35-22 in the game. 

Tommies defense Moffatt earned the nod as the second star in the game, while veteran forward Aimee O'Neill was the third star for her efforts. 

The series continues tomorrow, Saturday March 1, with Game 2 set for 7 p.m. in Antigonish at the Charles V. Keating Centre.   

Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics