Battling Through: Mid-season Review
The first half of the 2022-23 season has had its ups and downs for the St. Thomas University Tommies. With 11 points, STU sits in seventh place in the Atlantic University Sport with a 5-10-1 record - one point back of the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus for the final playoff spot. The team enters the winter break on a six-game losing skid, including three consecutive games without a goal.
After a strong first two games, defeating the nationally ranked University of New Brunswick REDS in Caroline Pietroski's (Etobicoke, ON) greatest performace with the Tommies with a 49-save shutout, and a win the next day over the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers, STU has dropped off with their performance. The Tommies have struggled to find their offensive groove, being outscored by 28 goals in their first 16 games.
Tommies' head coach Peter Murphy had been feeling good about the start of the season - STU had split their first 10 games of the season. The Tommies were not only hit with the injury bug but the flu bug aswell.
"We don't have a big roster, so injuries can cause a problem," Murphy said. The Tommies have a roster of 20 skaters and two goalies. "People that play the power play and penalty kill eat minutes. All of a sudden, other people now have to step up and take those minutes ... they play their same game but add those [special teams] minutes and that can cause problems."
Murphy knows other teams suffer from the same problems but feels with a smaller roster, it can take a toll on the team's performance down the stretch. Since their 5-5 start, STU has only picked up a single point, going 0-5-1 to end the semester.
Murphy and his coaching staff have been working to solve the issue with the team's lack of shots on net and low number of goals - having the second least in the AUS in both categories with 362 shots and 23 goals - saying part of the problem is how his team recovers after their initial shot. Murphy said the team has fixed their mentality to put the puck on net but now, it's a matter of getting bodies to the net to keep the scoring chance alive.
"We need to be better at generating second chances," he said. "It may mean giving up a couple of shots to ensure that when we do get shots, we have bodies at the net."
Murphy said he'd also like to see more shots from his defence.
Third-year veteran Emma Wilson (Midhurst, ON) is leading the charge offensively. The forward has four goals and five assists for nine points, the most on the STU roster. Her rookie linemates are right behind her in scoring. Trinity Webbar (Brampton, ON) and Amy Dvernichuk (Regina, SK) each have seven points, with four goals from Devernichuk.
"The rookie class has been good ... Trinity plays at a high speed, she's got really good puck handling skills and she's a good shooter," Murphy said. "So it's not surprising how she's adjusted to the league. Amy's having a very good first year too."
The Tommies goalie tandem has been the brightest spot this season. Pietroski and Katie Sweeney (Tecumseh, ON) have a save percentage of 0.915, the third highest in AUS, only behind UNB and the St. FX X-Women - both nationally ranked teams. Pietroski has made 276 saves in 10 games played, third most in the AUS, with Sweeny just a hair behind with 273 in nine games.
Heading into the second half of the season, STU will kick off 2023 at home against Moncton on Jan. 6 before hitting the road for their next five games. seven of their final 12 games will be on the road, but Murphy doesn't have any concerns with the schedule. The Tommies will only play nationally ranked teams twice, having already played the REDS and X-Women a combined six times. They'll meet both teams just once each the second half of the season.