Heartbreaking losses

Panthers eliminated from post-season play by one-goal defeats

The hockey season has come to an end for the UPEI Panthers. The women’s hockey team lost a 1-0 heartbreaker to Moncton Aigles Bleues Sunday in Game 2 of its best-of-three Atlantic University Sport (AUS) quarter-final at MacLauchlan Arena.

A few hours later, the Panthers men’s team was eliminated when Saint Mary’s Huskies rookie Hunter Garlent broke a 3-3 tie with 32 seconds to play in the deciding game of their best-of-three quarter-final at the Halifax Forum.

Women’s

The women’s Panthers won the close games with Moncton in the regular season and the Aigles Bleues returned the favour in the playoffs. Chantal Beauchamp scored 7:42 into the second for the lone goal of the game. Moncton won the best-of-three Atlantic University Sport quarter-final 2-0 after winning Saturday’s opener 5-4. Marie-Pier Corriveau and Karine Roy had the assists. “We knew it was going to be tough going in,” said UPEI head coach Bruce Donaldson. “They’ve been playing well. That top line of theirs is very, very strong and at the end of the day we weren’t able to contain them.”

Gabrielle Forget made 24 stops for the shutout while Marie-Soleil Deschenes stopped 18 of 19 shots she faced in the loss.

“Kudos to them, they played well. Tonight, it was a great battle, it was a 1-0 game,” Donaldson said. “I’m real proud of the way the girls battled both of the games.”

UPEI was 0-for-5 on the power play while Moncton was 0-for-3. The Panthers went 4-0 against Moncton in the regular season winning by one goal in regulation, overtime and a shootout and by two once in a game that included an empty-net goal.

The Panthers missed the playoffs a year ago, but responded with a young team this season, finishing fourth in the conference.

“We really wanted to get through that first round, but you have to learn from these experiences,” Donaldson said. “They are a team that has won the AUS championship, gone to the nationals a couple of year as well.”

Men’s

The Panthers outshot the Huskies 32-17 in the final two periods and were 32 seconds away from forcing overtime. “At the end of the day, what probably came back to hunt us was not having the effort we wanted in Game 1,” head coach Forbes MacPherson said. In “Game 3 anything can happen.” The Panthers fought through adversity all season and it continued right until the final whistle.

The Huskies won a faceoff in the Panthers zone in the final minute and fired a quick shot on goalie Matt Mahalak, who made the save.

The Panthers tried to get a different centre on the ice for the next draw, but the referee would not allow the change.

“Five seconds later the puck was dropped and it was in the back of our net,” MacPherson said.

“It’s a quick series and a lot of things have to go your way in order to win,” he added. “This year, it just wasn’t meant to be.” Garlent had two goals while Stephen Johnson had a goal and an assist in Huskies win.

Kyle Pereira also scored while Stephen Shipley had two assists. Cody Payne, Nelson Armstrong and Marcus Power scored for UPEI with assists to Gabe Guertler, Ryan MacKinnon, Armstrong and Darcy Ashley. Eric Brassard made 35 saves for the win while Mahalak stopped 28 shots in the loss.

Saint Mary’s led 1-0 after the first period while the game was tied 1-1 heading to the third period.

The host Huskies led 3-1 midway through the final period before Armstrong scored with 7:31 to play and Power tied it with 2:52 remaining. MacPherson said the team’s returning players would learn from the series – something it owes to the guys who are moving onto the next stage of their career.

“They don’t have that chance to come back next year with that lesson in hand and the opportunity to make better,” he said.