Sunday 30 September 2012

STU has perfect weekend in Moncton

The St. Thomas Tommies women's hockey team went a perfect 3 and 0 at the U de M preseason hockey tournament, defeating the Saint Mary's Huskies this afternoon 3 to 1. With the win the Tommies finish their exhibition season with an impressive 4 - 0 - 1 record.

In today's contest the Tommies opened the scoring at 10:05 of the first period when Kelty Apperson scored on the powerplay with assists going to Katie Brewster and Emily Ryan.  It was the only goal in the opening frame, as STU out shot SMU 12 to 7.

It didn't take long for Saint Mary's to tie things in the second, as Sarah Douglas scored for the Huskies in the first minute.  SMU would out shoot the Tommies 10 to 9 in the period.

St. Thomas would own the majority of the third period, out shooting the Huskies 8 to 2.  Kayla Blackmore from Emily Francis would score the eventual winning goal at 18:14.  Katie Brewster would cement the perfect weekend with an empty netter with 40 seconds to play. 

Julia Sharun was excellent in the STU nets winning her third game of the preseason and Captain Kayla Blackmore would receive her second player of the game award in three days.

The Tommies will now rest for two weeks and wait to open the new Grant-Harvey Centre on October 13th versus U de M.

In other action on Sunday:

Game 9: MTA 1 vs. UPEI 3
Game 10: STU 3 vs. SMU 1
Game 11: ST-FX 2 vs. UdM 1 OT

Congratulations to the STU Women's hockey team on winning the 2012 UdeM Preseason tournament. Both St-FX and St. Thomas had identical 3 - 0 records but STU's goals for/goals against were better by three. Tommies 10 - 3 vs. X-Women 7 - 3.

Saturday 29 September 2012

Tommies double up Les Aigles Bleues

The  Lady Tommies were in no mood to be gracious guests at this year's U de M preseason tournament, defeating the host Aigles Bleues 4 to 2 this afternoon.  Kayla Blackmore led the way offensivesly with a goal & assist and Courtney Fox was stellar on the backend keeping Moncton in check.

Things didn't start out well for St. Thomas as Amélie Dion got Moncton on the board only 69 seconds into the game.  Kayla Blackmore responded with a highlight reel goal at 6:18 to tie the game and Kenya Marcelline would give STU the lead at 18:52 on the PP with the assist going to Blackmore.

Just as the period was ticking to the end, Stephanie Gates scored at 19:59 to give the Tommies a 2 goal cushion heading to the second period.  Shots favoured STU 8 to 6 in the period.

The second period was all Tommies but it took until the 17:21mark to register a goal.  Katie Brewster scored on the powerplay with assists to Kelty Apperson and Jenna Scott.  The period ended with a 4 to 1 lead for STU and 9 to 2 advantage on the shot clock.

Moncton woke up a little in the third but it was too little, too late. Marie-Pier Arsenault scored with under 2 minutes to play to make the final score 4 to 2.  Final shots were 24 - 14 for St. Thomas.

Kristin Wolfe picked up her first win of the season stopping 12 shots in the STU net and Courtney Fox was named the player of the game for the Tommies.

Next action for STU is tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 PM versus the Saint Mary's Huskies.

In other action today:

Game 5: UdeM 2 vs. MTA 1 (OT)
Game 6: UPEI 2 vs. SMU 1 (OT)
Game 7: Ottawa 1 vs. StFX 3
Game 8: STU 4 vs. UdeM 2

Friday 28 September 2012

Lady Tommies dump Gee Gees

Kayla Blackmore in action vs. U of Ottawa
Photo Courtesy Paige MacDonald
In game number four of the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues women's hockey pre-season tournament, the St. Thomas Tommies downed the University of Ottawa Gee Gees 3 to 0. Julia Sharun picked up the shut out in the STU net stopping 21 shots.

The Lady Tommies got started early in the first period when rookie Kenya Marcelline scored at 3:22, assisted by Kayla Blackmore and Emily Francis. The Tommies controlled much of the period and out shot the Gee Gees 8 to 3.

The second period was much the same as the first as Stephanie Gates scored her first goal for the Green and Gold at 2:50, assisted by Jordan Miller. The shots were closer in the period with the edge going to STU 10 - 9.

Kayla Blackmore would round out the scoring early at the 25 second mark of the third with Emily Francis picking up her second assist of the night. The Tommies defense and Julia Shurun would shut down Ottawa for the rest of the period to earn the victory.

Game notes:

Katie Brewster left the game in the third period with an apparent upper body injury.

With a goal and an assist, Kayla Blackmore was named the game's MVP.

This was Ottawa's second game of the day. They defeated U de M 3 to 1 earlier in the morning. To give credit to the Gee Gees they did look a little fatigued, particularly in the first period.

There was no broadcasts available for today's games.

Other action today:
Game 1: Ottawa 3 vs. Moncton 1
Game 2: St-FX 2 vs. UPEI 1
Game 3: SMU 3 vs. MT. A 0
Game 4: STU 3 vs. Ottawa 0

Thursday 27 September 2012

Three games on the sked this weekend for Lady Tommies

The Lady Tommies travel to Moncton this weekend for three games starting tomorrow, Friday, September 28th, versus the University of Ottawa Gees Gees of the RSEQ conference.  Game time is 5:30 PM at the J. Louis Levesque Arena.

The Gees Gees were 6 - 13 - 1 last season and finished fourth in the five team conference that includes the perennial powerhouse McGill University.  Ottawa has seven rookies in their line up this season and have been sharp in the preseason winning all 3 games they have played.  This should be an exciting test for the Lady Tommies, who split their two preseason games against UPEI last weekend.  This will also be Ottawa's second game of the day, as they begin play the same morning at 10 AM versus UdeM.

On Saturday afternoon at 5PM, the Lady Tommies play the host and provincial rival Universite de Moncton.  The Aigles Bleues lost both of their exhibition games to Québec's Cégep de Limoilou Titans last weekend. While it remains to be seen, Moncton may not be the same team that finished second in the AUS behind St-FX last year.  With several important players gone from that team, they may be in a rebuilding mode. Hockeyscene.com article

For the first time in recent memory the tournament will not have a gold medal game on Sunday.  The Tommies will conclude play against the SMU Huskies at 1:30 PM on Sunday afternoon.  The Huskies look to be stronger this year after finishing last in the AUS in 2011-12 and have added some strong recruits to their line-up, including two former team mates of Tommies rookie forward Kenya Marcelline.  Saint Mary's has one win and two losses this preseason composed of a loss to St-FX and a split versus Dalhousie. SMU Athletics story

I have not been able to confirm if the games are going to be broadcast but if they are this is the link to follow. -->  http://playerv2.streamit.ca/PlayerV2.aspx?eventid=20

Here is the complete schedule for the Moncton Tournament.

Friday September 28
10 a.m. -- Ottawa vs. U de M
12:30 p.m. -- StFX vs. UPEI
3 p.m. -- SMU vs. MTA
5:30 p.m. -- STU vs. Ottawa

Saturday September 29 
9:30 a.m. – U de M vs. MTA
12 p.m. -- UPEI vs. SMU
2:30 p.m. -- Ottawa vs. StFX
5 p.m. -- STU vs. U de M 

Sunday September 30 
11 a.m. -- MTA vs. UPEI
1:30 p.m. -- STU vs. SMU
4 p.m. – U de M vs. StFX

Sunday 23 September 2012

Lady Tommies bite Panthers for weekend split

Rookie Kelty Apperson had a goal and assist against UPEI
Photo Courtesy Paige MacDonald
The Lady Tommies earned a weekend split against the defending AUS champion UPEI Panthers with a 5 - 3 victory during exhibition women's hockey play at the Lady Beaverbrook Rink on Sunday afternoon.   The Panthers defeated STU on Saturday 2 - 1 in overtime. (see related story below)

St. Thomas came out hard in the first period but it was UPEI who caught the breaks.  Margaret Lockyer scored at 11:12 on the PP with a seeing eye shot and Lindsay Oakes at 18:34 staked the Panthers to a two goal lead.  The Tommies rallied late when rookie Kelty Apperson (Brewster, Ryan) backhanded one top shelf with 13 seconds left in the period.  Shots were 13 - 8 for STU in the first.

The late goal by Apperson seemed to fire up the Tommies as they blasted out of the gate in the second. Emily Ryan (Duffield, Apperson) got her first goal in green and gold at the 20 second mark and Kayla Blackmore (Steinert, Francis) potted one at the 50 second mark for a 3 - 2 Tommies lead.

STU controlled much of the second period and would increase their lead at 15:53 when newcomer Karrie Gorman  (J. Miller, C Fiander) made it 4 to 2.  Emily Francis (Marcelline, Blackmore) would get her second of the preseason at 18:34 to make it 5 to 2.

UPEI responded with 6 seconds left when Lindsay Oakes scored her 2nd goal of the game to decrease the margin to two.  Shots were 9 to 5 in favour of STU in the period.

In the third it was the Panthers turn to dominate but only on the shot clock as UPEI out shot STU 12 to 2.  The Tommies defense and goaltender Julia Sharun stood strong for the  remainder of the game, including a minute and fifty-four second 5 on 3 Panther powerplay.  The final score was 5 to 3 for St. Thomas.

Seven rookies dressed for today's game and none of them disappointed.  The line of Kelty Apperson, Katie Brewster, and Emily Ryan will get points this season to augment production from Kayla Blackmore's line of Kenya Marcelline, Blackmore, and Emily Francis.  No. 6 Kelty Apperson (conspicuous for wearing her midget team's red pants and helmet) stood out to this observer as did No. 5 Kenya Marcelline for her quickness.  On D, Amy Duffield and Eliza Snider were both consistent on the back end.  The future looks bright for the Tommies.

The Tommies will be back at it next weekend when they have 3 games at the annual Universite de Moncton preseason tournament.

Saturday 22 September 2012

Tommies drop preseason opener in OT

The Lady Tommies hit the ice for the first time this preseason in Charlottetown this afternoon versus UPEI.  STU held the lead for the majority of the game but an overtime maker for the Panthers saw them pull out the game 2 to 1.

The Tommies opened the scoring at 13:38 of first period when rookie Emily Francis potted a powerplay marker assisted by Kayla Blackmore and Kenya Marcelline.  St. Thomas was out shot 11 to 7 in the period.

The second period was scoreless and shots favoured UPEI 11 to 10.

Kristin Wolfe got the start in net today and held the shut out until late in the third period.  With less than three minutes remaining the Panthers would score on the powerplay to force overtime.  Shots were 6 to 4 for UPEI.

In overtime UPEI would get two shots on goal and the last one was the only one that counted as the Panthers skated off their home ice at 3:29 of OT with the victory.  

St. Thomas will face the Panthers in the back end of this home and home series tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM from the LBR.  Come out and check out the new faces in the STU line up and cheer on your Tommies.


Friday 21 September 2012

Tommies kick off exhibition tomorrow

The Lady Tommies head to Charlottetown tomorrow afternoon for their first preseason game of 2012-2013.  They will take on the defending AUS champion UPEI Panthers at 3 PM.  According to today's Charlottetown Guardian, the Panthers were hit hard by graduations and players not returning Guardian Article.  Nevertheless, the defending champs can not be taken lightly and will provide a good challenge to a hungry St. Thomas team looking to get off on the right foot this season.

With at least five new recruits and a few rumored high quality walk-ons to add to the line-up, Coach Murphy has bolstered the rank and file.   With only Kathleen Boyle lost to graduation, the team is expecting a big year.  Kathleen's skates will be replaced with rookie defensewoman Eliza Snider. Three of the best additions are returning 5th year veterans in the form of forward and captain Kayla Blackmore, rear-guard Courtney Fox, and former AUS all-star goalie Julia Sharun.

Up front the Tommies added Emily Ryan, Kenya Marcelline, Emily Frances, and Kelty Apperson.  These players are going to help an anaemic Tommies offence that relied heavily on Kayla Blackmore's output and finished sixth last season in goals scored.  

STU will return to the comfortable surroundings of the LBR on Sunday to play the Panthers again on the back end of a home and home set at 3 PM.