Mounties spoil matinee

Ryan Lum, Staff Contributor

The Dalhousie Tigers were looking to turn things around coming into last Saturday’s match against Mount Allison. Instead, they lost 3 – 0.

Having just returned from a three game road trip that saw them play the league’s top three teams and drop all three games by one goal, a game at home, where the Tigers had a 3–1–1 record, against the Mounties, second from last in the AUS, looked like a graspable 2 points.

However, the absence of star centre Jocelyn Leblanc and perhaps the lingering frustration of the Tigers 4 – 3 loss to the Mounties nearly a month ago, gave Memorial Arena an atmosphere of hesitation.

The opening minutes proved uneventful, with the shots sitting at 4 – 0 for Dal midway through the first. Things did pick-up somewhat near the end of the period when the Mounties received a two-woman advantage and finally created some scoring opportunities. Mt. A managed to sneak a goal with just two seconds remaining in the period. Forward Jenica Bastarache banged home the rebound off a shot from the streaking Katelyn Morton.

The Mounties struck again within the first minute of the second period after a scramble in front of the Dalhousie net saw Darla Frizell’s shot hit a stick and ricochet vertically, sailing over the head of Tigers goalie Ashley Boutilier, who was preoccupied with searching for the puck amidst the pile of skates and sticks, and into the net.

Then at 12:34 of the second, a bad clearing attempt led to an interception and a point blank shot from Mt. A’s Megan Davies. After hitting the post it was shovelled in by Megan Entwistle to make it 3 – 0.

Dal were able to muster a few scoring chances, including a well executed 2-on-1 that saw Fielding Montgomery hit the crossbar. The lack of productivity made frustration grow and discipline wane, leading the size-advantaged Tigers to start throwing body-checks, resulting in several penalties.

Penalties were the decisive factor in the game, and the officiating far from conservative in its judgements. Mount Allison had 11 power-plays to Dal’s one. Despite not allowing Mount Allison to score a single power-play goal, a combined 32 minutes shorthanded kept the Tigers from gaining offensive momentum.

The Tigers looked to be starting a charge midway through the third, but once again a spate of penalties — including a game misconduct to assistant captain Alyssa Hennigar — left the squad without enough time or bodies for goal scoring.

The win moved Mount Allison one spot up in the standings to sit above Saint Mary’s and UPEI, and also gave netminder Jenelle Hulan her first shutout of the season and the nod for the defensive player of the game.

The Tigers next matchup will be an exhibition game against the women’s team representing Nova Scotia at the Canada Games on Dec. 29 at the Dartmouth Sportsplex. Their next regular season game will be a rematch against Mount Allison on Jan. 7, 7 p.m. at Dal’s Memorial Arena.