Tommies Hold Off Reds
(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB REDS scored three goals in the final seven and a half minutes of play, but it wasn’t enough as they fell 6-5 to the St. Thomas Tommies, in the last game of the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 women’s hockey season.
Veteran REDS forward Sage McElroy-Scott scored at 18:41 of the third period to tie the game 5-5, but the Tommies’ Olivia Reid scored 40 seconds later to give the home team a 6-5 win, and even their four game exhibition series at two wins apiece.
“We came and we battled as hard as we could, and it’s just too bad it wasn’t the outcome that we wanted,” said McElroy-Scott. “It was exciting, a little bit of frustration because we were down. We want to win, so it’s put it all out there, especially in our last game of the season, so it was nerve-wracking.”
Despite all kinds of REDS pressure in the Tommies’ zone in the early going, it was St. Thomas that opened the scoring.
Aislynn Byers one-timed a big rebound past Hailey Martens at 9:59 of the first period to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
The REDS drew even at 13:46, when first-year forward Melanie Drost roofed a backhand over Tommies netminder Katie Sweeney in highlight reel fashion.
The teams traded goals in the second period, with the Tommies taking a 2-1 lead before Marley Van Den Oetelaar scored at the 15:30 mark to tie the game 2-2.
St. Thomas scored a pair of quick goals in the opening two minutes of the third, before McElroy-Scott corralled a loose puck in front of the Tommies’ net and backhanded the puck past Sweeney at 12:36, making it a 4-3 game.
The hosts responded quickly, restoring their two-goal lead before Drost, with her second of the night, on the power-play and with the UNB net empty, made it 5-4.
McElroy-Scott scored her second less than a minute later, before Reid’s winner for the Tommies.
“We fought right to the end, and that’s one thing that I don’t know if our group’s done before, come back from a two-goal lead in the dying seconds,” said REDS head coach Sarah Hilworth. “We’re starting to show that maturity and our young players are starting to develop. Our first-years did an outstanding job today, started contributing in bigger and bigger ways. I think it’s exciting for them to see that they can play a bigger role, and for our returning players, they’re starting to see themselves as veterans and starting to step up in dire moments, so it’s good.”
“We know that Melanie can score, it’s just giving her the time and space, and she’s learning to find that now,” said Hilworth. “It’s too bad that we can’t play some more games because I think she’s just finding her stride and finding her confidence. Sage played outstanding today. I think she’s getting more confident and starting to see herself as a goal-scorer in this league.”
“It felt good,” said McElroy-Scott, of her two-goal performance. “It was nice to get those two goals and bring the team up, but at the same time I wouldn’t have got them without my teammates, they battled hard and luckily I was in the right spot to tap it in, but without my teammates, that wouldn’t have happened.”
The REDS finish their five-game exhibition season with a record of three wins and two losses, including a 2-and-2 record against St. Thomas.
“We had an opportunity to compete again, and not against ourselves, which gets tiring after a while,” said Hilworth. “I think we saw a lot of really good things and things that we can continue to work on. I’m really proud of this group, for all of the adversity that they faced all year and I’m happy that they got rewarded with playing some games, some really good, quality games.”
For Hilworth, the focus now turns to recruiting and continuing to build as she heads into her fourth season as the REDS coach.
For her charges, it’s time to focus on studying and exams before another summer of off-season training.
“I think we’ve got a really strong team and it’ll be really nice to work hard all summer and come back and show everyone what we’ve got,” said McElroy-Scott.
RECAP AND PHOTOS: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics