Tommies Score Late to Top Reds

Fredericton, NB- It was the third instalment of the "Battle of the Hill" and that is exactly what the game was; a battle.

The St. Thomas University Tommies hosted the University of New Brunswick Reds Wednesday night in their third meeting of the season with the teams splitting the previous two meetings.

Caroline Pietroski (Etobicoke, ON) got the start between the pipes for the Tommies while Kendra Woodland (Kamloops, BC) got the nod for the Reds.

The first period got off to a physical start with both teams fighting hard along the boards for the puck.

"Fair amount of physicality out there tonight," said Tommies head coach Peter Murphy. "Physicality is one of those things you want to get the girls used to, playing and winning pucks on the boards and making sure we come out with the puck nine times out of ten."

The first stanza would end with both goaltenders holding their ground and the score remained 0-0.

The game would remain scoreless until six minutes into the period when the Tommies would break in on Woodland who turned the shot away and the Reds came back the other way with Lillian George (Garden Village, ON) sniping home the game's first goal.

From there on out it was back to the goaltending battle the fans saw in the first period.

With less than three minutes left in the game 4^th year centre Lauren Legault (Winnipeg, MB) would knot the game up after a scramble in front of the net. STU would draw a powerplay in the dying minutes of the game and with 57.2 seconds left in the game Murphy would call timeout to draw up a play for his team. 27 seconds after that Alex Woods (Courtice, ON) would let a shot go from the point that would find the back of the net to give the Tommies their first lead of the game with 29 seconds remaining.

"Exciting stuff isn't it," said Murphy about the game's finish. "Makes my hair grey and fall out."

Woodland would make 29 saves in the tough luck loss, while Pietroski would make 26 saves on the night.

With the win the Tommies move to 9-8-0 on the season, two points behind UNB (10-7-0).

The Tommies will host the AUS leading Saint Mary's Huskies on Friday night at the Grant-Harvey Centre, while the Reds will head to Mount Allison University on Sunday to face the Mounties.