Freshman forward Brennen Wray scored the game winning goal with 3:08 left in the final period to lift the StFX X-Men to a 3-2 Game 1 victory over the CIS ranked No. 1 UNB Varsity Reds Thursday night in Fredericton as the two teams opened their best 3-of-5 AUS semi-finals series.

The win marks the second time in as many weeks that the X-Men have defeated the Varsity Reds, the only CIS school this season to do so over the top ranked school. StFX handed them a 4-3 loss on Feb. 12th in Fredericton in the second-to-last regular season game of the season. 

On Thursday night it was the Varsity Reds who got the early lead in the game as third year forward Kyle Bailey scored a shorthanded marker 4:21 into the first period. Ben Shutron assisted on the play. Despite the Varsity Reds out shooting the X-Men 11-7 in the opening 20 minutes of play, the score would be 1-1 heading into the first intermission as X-Men forward Bryce Swan got the visitors on the board with 2:43 left in the period. Josh Day and Brett Morrison were credited with the assists on the Swan goal.

The second period featured a close shot margin with the Varsity Reds holding the slight edge at 10-9. Kyle Bailey notched his second goal of the night at the 16:52 minute mark to again put his Varsity Reds up by a goal. Lachlan MacIntosh and Daine Todd assisted.

One of the keys in the X-Men victory was their defensive play throughout the game and the fact that they played disciplined hockey, taking only two minor penalties. StFX also capitalized on their opportunities, one of those being their tying goal scored by forward Phil Mangan 9:23 into the third period. Matthew Bragg assisted on Mangan’s goal and also on Wray’s game winner which came just over seven minutes later.

As time quickly ticked away in the final minutes of the third period, UNB was again left on the short end of a one-goal game on the part of StFX X-Men. Shots remained close again in the third period with the Varsity Reds having a 10-9 edge in the period and a 31-25 advantage in the game.

UNB was 0 for 2 on the power play while the X-Men were 0 for 4, UNB’s Jonathan Harty took a contact to the head penalty late in the second period immediately followed by a ten minute misconduct.

First year X-Men goaltender Bryan Gillis continued his strong play between the pipes and earned his third consecutive playoff win. Travis Fullerton took the loss for the Varsity Reds.

As the X-Men take a 1-0 series lead, Game 2 is scheduled for Friday night at the UNB Aitken Centre at 7:00 pm. Games 3 and 4 (if necessary) will be played Tuesday and Wednesday, March 2-3 in Antigonish. Game 5 (if necessary) will be back in Fredericton on Saturday, March 6th.

StFX Sports Information