Tommies follow the bouncing puck to an overtime loss.

The Tommies early season woes continued tonight at the LBR. Penalty troubles and bad bounces proved to be STU's ultimate undoing in a 6 to 5 overtime loss at the hands of the Saint Mary's Huskies. St Thomas was first on the board tonight just 2:34 into the first period, striking shorthanded. Tommies' leading scorer Max Chamberland did a fine job breaking up a Huskies drive at his own blueline, then driving to the SMU net where his initial shot was stopped by Cory Chipman. Fellow penalty killer Ryan Murphy found the puck on the doorstep and registered his first goal of the season. The Huskies would reply with a Garret Peters goal at 3:30. STU showed no quit despite the Huskies repeated comebacks in the first as Corey Banfield scored on a top-of-crease scrum to make it 2-1 at 4:41. Bouncing pucks would be the Tommies' Achilles heel on this night, as Ryan Lehr's attempt to block an Andrew Hotham point shot at 11:34 would see the puck bounce off his stick behind a helpless Guillaume Miszczak, getting the start in goal to break a 37 consecutive start stretch for Matt Davis. But once again the Tommies bounced back with Lehr redeeming himself at 13:46 wth a point shot that beat Chipman over the shoulder.

In the second period, the Tommies began to extend their lead thanks to a pair of goals from Jason Cassidy. At 7:18 Cassidy redirected a Corey Banfield feed past Chipman, then at 8:55, with the Tommies on the powerplay, Cassidy would score his second of the season to make it 5-2 Tommies. The Tommies continued to skate well with the dangerous Huskies until running into penalty trouble late in the second period. With defenders Bryan Main and Erick Tremblay both in the penalty box, Cody Thornton found the back of the net at 19:42. The second period would end with the Tommies holding onto a 2-goal lead, but Tremblay remained in the sin bin, and the Huskies power play would take advantage.

Brandon Verge would replace Chipman between the pipes to start the final period of regulation, and just 33 seconds into the third frame, Cam Fergus would bring SMU to within a goal while continuing their man advantage. Suddenly, the lead once thought safe was safe no more. With momentum having swung toward Saint Mary's, Kyle Doucet scored at 3:52 to even up the score at 5 goals apiece. The Tommies were outshot 14-4 in the third as they hung on to force overtime and gain the point.

Just 1:22 into overtime, the bouncing puck would once again sting STU, as Marc Rancourt carried the puck down the right wing side. A poor centering attempt by Rancourt nonetheless found the inside of the far post as a defending Keith Wynn redirected the puck behind Miszczak for the Huskies' winner. The Tommies fall to 0-3-1 on the season while the Huskies even their season record at 2-2-0. St. Thomas head coach Mike Eagles was quoted as saying he "is sick of his team's undisciplined play so far this season." Up next for the Tommies are the rival UNB $quirrels on Wednesday night, a 7pm start. Daily Gleaner: Tommies continue to self destruct

In Lady's AUS action from Sunday afternoon the Lady Tommies fell 1 to 0 in a shootout to Dalhousie. Julia Sharun was strong in the Tommies net facing 30 pucks. The Tommies lone goal in the shoot-out was scored by Dominique Bernier while the Tigers got two past Sharun. DG Article: Double dipper for Tommies in women's hockey.