The Saint Mary’s Huskies will be an underdog as they chase their first Atlantic University Sport women’s hockey championship in five years starting Friday in Moncton.
The Huskies are seeded third at the four-day, six-team championship tournament after finishing the season with a 13-10-1 record. They haven’t won an AUS title since claiming back-to-back banners in 2003 and 2004.
The AUS has replaced its traditional win-or-go-home format with a two-game round robin, and the Huskies are in a pool with the second-ranked St. Francis Xavier X-Women (18-2-4) and the fifth-ranked Dalhousie Tigers (11-13).
“We’re in a very competitive pool,” said Huskies head coach Lisa Jordan. “We have the expectation that we’re going to go in and play well and it’s hard to say how things will turn out. We’re optimistic about our chances. St. F.X. is going to be a tough test and Dal won’t be any easier for us.”
The Tigers and X-Women meet in the tournament’s opening game on Thursday at 3 p.m., with the loser facing the Huskies on Friday and the winner doing the same on Saturday.
“All three teams in our pool have an opportunity to win the whole thing and it’s going to be exciting,” Jordan said.
The defending champion Moncton Aigles Bleues are seeded first. The championship game is Sunday at 2 p.m.
