Press Release

Thursday, January 04, 2018

Women’s hockey: Aigles Bleues to host X-Women and Tigers, Friday and Saturday

Université de Moncton Aigles Bleues (5-7-2 = 12 points, 5^th position) begin the second semester play with two of their last ten Atlantic University Sport women’s hockey games against Nova Scotia teams on the weekend, at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena.

The St. Francis Xavier University X-Women (11-1-2 = 24 points, 1^st position) will visit on Friday at 7 p.m., while the Dalhousie University Tigers (8-6-0 = 16 points, 4^th position) will play Saturday at 4 p.m. Team members are aware of the importance of those two games. Moncton was looking for a top 2 finish at the beginning of the season. The first half results were not what was expected, and coach Denis Ross had to revise his objectives, his team being in the 5^th spot after 14 games and one point ahead of UPEI Panthers and four behind Dalhousie.

“There is no doubt we are looking for a double victory this weekend,” Ross said. “We need to win because it is not our wish to be pushed in the 6^th spot. We must find ways to score goals and take advantage of the opportunities. We have ten games left in the regular season. We are looking to gain a momentum that will bring us in the playoffs.”

Brittany Poitras is confident that her teammates will be able to come out strong and meet the second semester’s objectives. “Winning is our aim. The holiday break enabled us to recharge the batteries,” the team captain said. “We need to begin strong and build towards the playoffs. Finding ways to score is our challenge. The scores are all close, but we need goals to win. We are looking at the top 3, now and that is attainable. Play is more intense during the playoffs and the first half results were lower than expected. We begin at the base, and we will give it our all. We have ten games left and we do not have a choice.”

In brief, Gabrielle Forget will be in the net Friday. All players are available to play. Moncton scored 25 goals and allowed 34, in 14 games so far, an average of fewer than two goals scored per game. Katryne Villeneuve is the team’s leading scorer with six goals and the same number of assists, with 12 points, ranked 12 in the league. Marie-Pier Corriveau (3-6 = 9 points) is 23^rd. Danielle Bérubé and Chantal Beauchamp (1-3 = 4 points) are 14^th for defencemen. Gabrielle Forget (.910) and Sabrina Lebrun (.902) are 6^th and 7^th respectively in the goaltender rankings.



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