Rapids Split Season-Opening Road Trip

HALIFAX, N.S. — The Saint John Rapids opened their season on the road with a weekend split, falling 7-3 to the Halifax Hurricanes on Saturday night before bouncing back with a commanding 8-4 win over the Dartmouth Bandits on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, Halifax struck five times in the opening period to take control early, handing the Rapids a 7-3 loss. Despite two goals from Raine Gilmore and a goal from Grace Cudmore, Saint John couldn’t recover from the early deficit. Goaltender Kat Garland turned aside 39 of 46 shots in the loss. Taylor Adams chipped in with two assists on the night. The Rapids were outshot 46-21.

Saint John responded on Sunday with a strong team performance in Shearwater, led by standout efforts from Gilmore and Macey Hatfield. Gilmore scored four times — including a power-play goal and three at even strength — while Hatfield recorded a natural hat trick, with two of her three straight goals coming shorthanded. She added a fourth goal late in the third to cap off a four-goal weekend.

Abby Morrison and Jorja Garland each collected two assists, and the Rapids dominated special teams, tallying three shorthanded goals and one on the power play.

Saint John now enters a bye week before returning to action with a pair of road games: Saturday, May 24 against the Sackville Wolves (3:00 p.m., Sackville Arena) and Sunday, May 25 versus the Eastern Shore Breakers (12:00 p.m., Eastern Shore Community Centre).