X-Women Blank REDS

(FREDERICTON, NB) In a showdown between the top two teams in the Atlantic University Sport standings, the STFX X-Women emerged victorious on Saturday night, in a 2-0 shutout win over the UNB REDS at UNB's Aitken Centre.

Ireland McClosky (Barrie, ON) and Ashlyn Garnett (Dartmouth, NS) scored for the X-Women, while Amaya Giraudier (Assiniboia, SK) stopped all 21 shots she faced for her third shutout of the season.

"It certainly wasn't our best performance," said UNB interim head coach, Kyle MacDonald. "We had some good chances but didn't get the bounces that we would've wanted. When it comes to getting those favourable bounces usually you have to outwork the other team and that wasn't the case tonight."

McClosky opened the scoring for the X-Women at 3:56 of the first period. Capitalizing on a UNB turnover, Maggy Burbidge (Falmouth, NS) broke free on a breakaway. Although Burbidge was initially stopped by Kendra Woodland (Kamloops, BC), a trailing McCloskey followed up and put home the rebound, giving STFX the early 1-0 advantage.

"When they [STFX] go to the net, they go with a purpose," said MacDonald. "In the neutral zone, they're looking for opportunities to transition right away and jump on those breaks. Hats off to STFX, they did a good job of that tonight."

The X-Women had a chance to extend their lead at 10:10 of the first period during a 2-on-1 fast break for Burgidge and Tea Pearce (Calgary, AB). Burbidge unleashed a shot on net that managed to elude Woodland but struck the post, keeping the score at 1-0.

Jorja Nystrom (Leduc, AB) had an opportunity to level the score at 4:19 of the second period for the REDS. A perfectly placed centering feed from Sydney Oitomen (Mississauga, ON) left her with a wide-open net, but Nystrom just narrowly missed.

Garnett extended STFX's lead to 2-0 at 7:06 of the second period. On a break, Anna MacCara (Yellowknife, NWT) dropped the puck back for Garnett who lifted it over the blocker of Woodland, to take a two-goal advantage for the X-Women.

The REDS did their best to apply the pressure in the third period, but Giraudier was tremendous down the stretch for the X-Women to preserve the shutout.

With the loss, UNB drops to 16-5-0-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL). The REDS return to action Sunday on home ice, facing the Dalhousie Tigers at 3:00 pm.

"The silver lining is that we get a quick sleep tonight and then we're back at it again," said MacDonald. "There are a lot of proud players in our room that aren't satisfied with tonight's result. We're going to have a motivated group and a good start tomorrow."

STFX moves to 17-3-2-0 and will host the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues on Friday at 7:00 pm.

RECAP BY: Evan Richtsfeld/ UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/ for UNB Athletics