Aigles Bleues loose 6-2 in final

SMU named AUS Champions

Normand A. Léger, UdeM Communications

Date goes here, if applicable

MONCTON – Saint Mary’s University Huskies caused quite a surprise during the weekend by capturing the honours of the 13th Subway Atlantic University Sport Women’s Hockey Championship played at the J.-Louis Lévesque Arena.
 
Huskies beat the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues 6-2 in the final game on Sunday to win the right to represent the Atlantic Region in the national championships in Antigonish in two weeks.
 
Huskies beat the regular season champions Aigles Bleues and the second place Saint Francis Xavier X-Women in the AUS championship. 
 
Melissa Young and Rebecca Mosher gave a quick 2-0 lead to the Huskies in the first period. Kyla Thurston, Kori Cheverie and Lauren McCusker made it 5-1 in the second stanza and Thurston’s second goal in the third ended the scoring.  
 
Mariève Provost, in the second period and Kayla Landry, in the third, replied for the Aigles Bleues.
 
Huskies captain, Kori Cheverie, was chosen championship MVP and also a member of the all star team with Mariève Provost (AB) and Lauren McCusker (Huskies) as forwards, goaltender Jillian MacIsaac (Huskies) and Rebecca Mosher (Huskies) and Geneviève David (AB) at defence.
 
“We knew Moncton had a good offensive and we decided to play a more aggressive style in a defensive system”, Huskies coach Lisa Jordan said. “We put the focus to the centre zone and the players responded well.” Captain Kori Cheverie added the team decided to play one period at a time without putting any pressure on their shoulders. “We skated well and we put the pressure on Moncton”, Cheverie said.
 
Moncton coach Denis Ross gave credit to the Huskies who were able to contain the Moncton attack and give them limited space on the ice. “The puck rolled for the Huskies,” Ross said. “They have progressed well since Christmas and they had the wind in the sails after their victory over SFX Saturday. They controlled the play in the central zone and we did not take advantage of our chances.”
 
Captain Kristine Labrie noted certain plays that worked well during the season did not work at all in the final game. “We are saddened by the score, but we gave it all we had” Labrie said. “We were looking for our space on the ice without being able to find it. The Huskies were able to profit from their chances.”
 
The Aigles led 29-24 in shots on goal. Kathie Desjardins was the loosing goaltender and Jillian MacIsaac registered the win for the Huskies.