2013 AUS Women's Hockey Championship: Day 2

SACKVILLE, N.B. — Friday's results put an end to Moncton's and Mount Allison's seasons, Moncton's not so nicely.

Ugly end for Eagles

Coming into their match with the Saint Mary's Huskies, the Moncton Aigles Bleues needed a big win to remain in contention. They held on for two periods but things unravelled for them in the third, leading to an ugly end to a disappointing season, and a 4-1 loss.

In her final AUS playoff game, Moncton captain Genevieve David was kicked out along with teammates Marie-Pier Arsenault and Natacha Bergeron. At the 11:25 mark of the third period, Monika Cormier was called for a double minor for contact to the head which led to the final Huskies goal from Sarah Maynard, at 14:17. It was at that point when David shot the puck in the direction of the referee. That led to her being handed a ten minute misconduct and leaving the ice angrily. Denis Ross was absolutely irate on the bench and Moncton's crowd were hurling insults at the referee.

In the final 5:43 of the third period, Moncton took three ten-minute misconducts and two additional minor penalties.

Meanwhile, during the game that preceded that, it appeared as though a goaltending battle was brewing between the Huskies' Sienna Cooke and Moncton's Jenna Van Belois, with scoreless first periods on both sides. Moncton fell behind 2-0 in the second early, though, after goals 28 seconds apart from Kaitlyn Abbass and Brianna Soper. Moncton attempted a comeback of sorts as Arsenault scored an incredible shorthanded goal, bringing the puck out front and snuck it past Cooke short side to pull Moncton within one.

The Huskies restored the two-goal lead before the end of the period as Soper scored her second of the game.

Moncton is now officially eliminated while the Saint Mary's Huskies will move on to face the St. Thomas Tommies in the semi-final with a championship game berth on the line.

Mounties win, but season ends

The Mounties got the victory over UPEI that they were looking for on Friday night, in front of a supportive home crowd. However their offence came up short and they didn't win by enough goals to stave off elimination, winning just 2-1.

Mount Allison's Ashlyn Somers took a feed in the first period from Kara Anthony and drove it home past Marie Deschenes to give Mt. A a 1-0 lead after one period of play. In the second frame, Kierstin Visser fired a shot past Megan Corley-Byrne to tie the game up. To her credit, Corley-Byrne played the game of her life, making 42 saves on 43 shots.

Coming into the third period, the Mounties needed at least two goals to stay in contention due to the goal-differential tiebreaker. Captain Lauren Oickle took matters into her own hand in what would be her final game as a Mountie firing a laser over Deschenes' glove hand to put the Mounties up 2-1 early. The Mounties continued to press for the rest of the period but the Panthers stifled their chances to enter the zone. Eventually, pressed for time, the Panthers pulled Deschenes with 1:48 left for the extra attacker. The Mounties had a golden opportunity to get the goal they needed but UPEI held the puck in Mount Allison's zone until the final buzzer went.

The Mounties season is now over while the Panthers will play the St. Francis Xavier X-Women in a rematch of last year's semi-final. The situation is very clear for the Panthers: if they win by two or more goals, they will face the winner of Saint Mary's and St. Thomas in the final on Sunday.