Panthers fall in heartbreaking regular season finale 3-2 to Tommies

By Reegan MacAulay

It took three minutes on Saturday afternoon for the UPEI Panthers (12-11-3-2) to have their playoff hopes potentially shattered.

In a nail-biting regular-season-concluding match at the MacLauchlan Arena where it seemed the Panthers were well on their way to clinching the sixth and final playoff spot with a crucial victory, the visiting St. Thomas University Tommies (16-7-3-1) stunned them with two quick goals to go from down 2-1 after two periods to win 3-2 within the final moments of the third period.

Before the game, seven graduating players were honoured for their on and off-ice contributions to the women's hockey program – third-year forward Carly Thompson, third-year goaltender Sarah Forsythe, fourth-year defenseman Elizabeth Beiersdorfer, and fourth-year forwards Kaiya Maracle, Ashley McCutcheon, McKinley Nelson and Chiara Esposito.

The Panthers had a fantastic start, flying out of the gates with great speed and physicality and were dominant in puck possession. Esposito put them on the board first with her second goal of the season in her final career AUS regular season game, grabbing the puck off a bounce off a defender's leg and firing it past Tommies goaltender Chloe Marshall.

Each team exchanged opportunities throughout the rest of the first period and most of the second period, but the Panthers held a firm and consistent lead in the shot count. Looking for an insurance goal to gain a more comfortable lead, they had their lucky moment at 13:53 in period two, as rookie defenseman Sadie Brown fired a shot from the point and the puck took a few weird bounces, catching Marshall off guard and leading to Brown's first career AUS goal.

UPEI was about a minute away from entering the third period with great momentum, but that changed during a sloppy play in their zone. At their blue line, a miscommunication led to STU's Nadia Lavoie creating a turnover, speeding towards the net and roofing a backhand shot top-shelf, putting the Tommies on the board.

In the third and final period, the intensity picked up and the Tommies began to take control of the game with their momentum from their earlier goal. At 15:01, STU's Tristyn Endicott collected a behind-the-net pass a few feet ahead of the blue line and fired a wrist shot, which found its way through heavy traffic and past Forsythe's glove to tie the game 2-2. 

Just when it seemed things couldn't get any worse, McCutcheon was penalized for interference at 16:10. On the ensuing shift, Forsythe made a game-saving blocker save, but the Tommies refused to back down, and eventually got another shot past her. Aimee O'Neill, positioned along the left boards, sent a cross-ice feed to an open Natalie MacKay in front, who finished a fantastic play of vision and IQ by firing home the game-winning goal.

Forsythe denied 19 of 22 shots in her final career AUS regular season game and was named the Panthers Player of the Game; her regular season record ended at 9-9-1-1. Marshall stopped 27 of 29 shots in her ninth start this season and was named the Tommies Player of the Game; her record improved to 5-3-1-0. The final shots were 29-22 in favour of UPEI. The Panthers went 0-for-2 on the power play while the Tommies went 1-for-4.

Although the Panthers aren't entirely out of playoff contention as they now sit one point ahead of the SMU Huskies for the final playoff spot, Saturday's loss puts them in an uncomfortable situation completely out of their control. The Huskies have one game in hand against the Moncton Aigles Bleus on home ice on Sunday, which they must win and/or force past regulation to steal sixth from UPEI.

Photo Credit: Janessa Vanden Broek