The Memorial Sea-Hawks (8-2-0) fresh off qualifying for the playoffs and clinching a first-round bye, return home to face the Moncton Aigles Bleus (0-10-0) for the final two games of the AUS regular season.
The 2nd place Memorial Sea-Hawks boast one of the better records in Atlantic Canada and all across the nation as they were recently bumped into a top-10 ranking in the nation. This is a team that didn't rely on one or a select few players to carry their team, the Sea-Hawks used a balanced attack on offence and were rarely led by a single player. However, the Sea-Hawks did boast one of the premier goal scorers in all of the AUS, forward Holly O'Neill (7G) ranks 2nd in the AUS with 7 goals, while her 40 shots rank 3rd. Another reason why this team was able to have such great success over their first 10 games is their defence, conceding just 6 goals which would put them 3rd in the AUS. Goalkeeper Sydney Walsh has been tremendously steady whenever she has been tested this season, posting 6 wins with a superb 0.886 save percentage and a 0.63 goals-against average (all top-3 ranks in AUS). Walsh's 4 clean sheets can't be forgotten either, the confidence Walsh gives the team from the last line of defence can't be understated. Sea-Hawks coach Mike Power offered his thoughts as the team heads into its final two regular season matches "we have a lot of positive momentum within the squad right now, and 2 good performances this weekend will be important to carry into Sydney next weekend".
The Moncton Aigles Bleus find themselves in 10th place in the AUS standings and will be looking to get in the win column in St. Johns this weekend. The team hailing from Moncton is led by freshman forward Leila Karam (2G, 1A), who's been the catalyst for the Aigles Bleus offence. Also, forward Zoe Brockbank (2G) has been able to provide some secondary offence to the team, both Karam and Brockbank will have to excel this weekend for the Aigles Bleus to walk away victorious. Despite being eliminated from playoff contention, these pair of games will act as a good measuring stick and confidence booster for the Aigles Bleus as they head into the offseason.
The opening game will kick off on Friday evening at 5:00 PM NDT, while the following game will be on Saturday at 3:00 PM NDT, both games will be held at Prince George V Park.