Courtesy Glenn MacDonald, The Chronicle Herald
It was a Mardi Gras worth celebrating for the St. Francis Xavier X-Men.
But most of the 4,685 fans at the Halifax Forum were in no mood.
X-Men forward Phil Mangan scored 50 seconds into double overtime as St. F.X. beat the host Saint Mary’s Huskies 3-2 in Game 5 of the Atlantic Universities Hockey Conference best-of-five semifinal Tuesday night.
Mangan, stationed near the right face-off circle, deflected a Scott Brannon shot from the boards that snuck through a bewildered Neil Conway. Mangan tossed his gloves in the air and skated towards centre ice where he was mobbed by his teammates.
Their reason to celebrate is two-fold. St. F.X. advances to the AUHC final against the UNB Varsity Reds and has earned a berth to the CIS University Cup, which UNB hosts March 24-27. The Huskies won last season’s University Cup.
"The goal to put us in a championship against the defending nationals champs, it doesn’t get any better," a jubilant Mangan said.
"I think they were running out of gas in the overtime and we were putting it to them. They were resorting to ribbing the puck around the boards to get rid of it and I saw Scotty beat the winger to the boards. I yelled to him because I was in front and he threw it on net. It was just a slight tip."
St. F.X. advances to its second straight AUHC final. The X-Men lost in three straight to the Huskies in last year’s championship. The Varsity Reds’ website says Games 1 and 2 are Friday and Saturday at the Aitken Centre in Fredericton.
Bryce Swan and Jason Bast had second-period goals for the X-Men, who were outshot 31-19 in regulation time, but held a 9-1 shot advantage during the 10-minute overtime. Mangan’s goal was the first shot of the second OT.
Justin Munden and Ryan Rorabeck replied in the opening frame for the Huskies, who took advantage of a flat X-Men squad. St. F.X. was disjointed in their own zone as SMU scored twice in the first 7:12 of the game.
The Huskies could have easily put the game out of reach by the first intermission. SMU defenceman Tyler Cuthbert hit the post on a three-on-two break and Munden, left alone in the slot with two seconds remaining, missed the net.
"Being down 2-0 and finding a way to come back and win it in double overtime is a testament of how focused these guys are in getting the job done," St. F.X. head coach Brad Peddle said. "We have found an even keel where we don’t get too high or too low. Even when we got down, we said there was still lots of game left."
"This team has overcome a lot of adversity during the year and in this series," Mangan added. "We knew we could turn it around. I think every guy knew we were going to win this game. We believed this was our time."
St. F.X. responded early into the second when Swan redirected a Chris Hulit point shot 37 seconds in. Bast evened the score on a remarkable individual effort, outracing two SMU defenders and lifting a rebound off his deke try past Conway at the 7:09 mark.
There wouldn’t be another goal for another 44 minutes. Each team had its chances but Conway and St. F.X. goalie Joseph Perricone were solid, if not spectacular, to keep it tied.
"That game could have gone either way," a dejected Munden said. "Both teams battled hard all series and you knew it was going to be one little play that would decide and it ended up being a deflection.
"It’s definitely painful but I congratulate X and wish them best of luck."