Soper scores twice in 4-2 Huskies win over Panthers

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - Brianna Soper picked up two goals and Sienna Cooke made 28 saves to lead the Saint Mary's Huskies to a 4-2 win against the UPEI Panthers at the Alumni Arena on Friday night.

The Panthers fought their way back in the third period and were within a goal but the Huskies halted a comeback when they scored into an empty net with under a minute to play.

Saint Mary's controlled the play for most of the first frame, outshooting the Panthers 17-11. Goaltender Courtney Arseneau was nearly unbeatable in the period but Huskies defenceman Sarah Douglas managed to score when her wrist shot from the top of the left circle found the back of the net through traffic.

The Huskies got to Arseneau again five minutes into the second period when Brianna Soper and Caitlyn Schell teamed up to double the lead. Schell drove wide down the left wing and fed Soper in the slot who buried a hard low shot. 

Pathers defenceman Anja Weisser scored a power play goal 5:32 into the third period to cut the lead to 2-1. It was a nice effort from Weisser who had her first shot stopped by Cooke but followed her rebound and was not denied on her second attempt.

Three minutes after the goal, the Panthers made two crucial mistakes as they gave the Huskies over 1:20 of 5-on-3 powerplay time. As Rebecca Mosher quarterbacked the power play unit, she found Schell at the side of the net whose touch pass was one-timed by Soper past the UPEI netminder. Mosher's assist gives her a total of eight points on the season which leads all AUS defencemen.

Just over a minute later, the Panthers responded quickly on a powerplay of their own. UPEI defenceman Laura Bradley snapped a shot on net that was saved by Cooke but the rebound fell right in front of forward Lindsay Oakes who slammed the puck home, bringing her team within one.

The Huskies tightened up defensively in the last nine minutes and prevented the Panthers from scoring the tying goal. As UPEI was pressing in the final seconds, Haylee Tretiak iced the game when she scored on the empty net from the neutral zone.

The Panthers play their final regular season game of this semester Nov. 30 at 3 p.m. when they visit the St. Thomas Tommies (5-3-4) in Fredericton. 

There will be a battle of the top two AUS teams as the Huskies will host the undefeated StFX X-Women (11-0-0) the name night at the Alumni Arena. In their previous matchup, the X-Women outshot the Huskies in a 4-1 victory. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Source: Saint Mary's Sports Information