Courtesy Canadian Interuniversity Sport
FREDERICTON, N.B. (CIS) – The fifth-seeded St. Francis Xavier X-Men, who needed a win to remain in the tournament, defeated third-ranked Alberta 3-1 in their second and final preliminary round outing at the CIS men’s hockey championship, Friday afternoon, before 3,307 at the University of New Brunswick’s Aitken Centre.
University Cup website: http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mice
The X-Men rebounded from a 2-1 loss to the No. 2 McGill Redmen in their tourney opener on Thursday to even their Pool B record at 1-1.
The Golden Bears (0-1) and McGill (1-0) face off in the final Pool B tilt Saturday at 2:30 p.m. Atlantic, live on Rogers Sportsnet.
All three teams could still advance to Sunday’s championship final.
McGill would advance with a win on Saturday; StFX would qualify if Alberta beats McGill by one or two goals, or if Alberta wins by three, except by a 3-0 score; Alberta would come out on top if they defeat the Redmen by four or more.
Should the Golden Bears beat McGill 3-0, Alberta and StFX would face off in a shootout following the Bears-Redmen game.
“There’s no quitting in this team,” said StFX head coach Brad Peddle. “Now, we’re going to turn into big Alberta fans tomorrow.”
A goal by defenceman R.D. Chisholm of Antigonish, N.S., late in the second period stood as the game-winner.
Phil Mangan, a centre from Gananoque, Ont., opened the scoring in the first period and helped set up the winning play, while Kevin Undershute, a left-winger from Medicine Hat, Alta., added an insurance marker early in the third frame.
Sophomore Brennen Wray, of Moose Jaw, Sask., also had a two-point effort with a pair of helpers.
“Before the game we just said let’s go out there and have some fun,” said Mangan, who earned Game MVP honours for StFX. “We just wanted to give it our all and give ourselves a chance for tomorrow.”
The high-powered Golden Bears offence, which led all Canada West teams in the regular season with 112 goals in 28 games, was held to a power-play goal by Derek Ryan, the conference MVP from Spokane, Wash., early in the middle stanza.
After making 38 saves against McGill on Thursday, StFX goaltender Joseph Perricone, a native of San Juan Capistrano, California, was solid once again and finished with 24 stops.
At the other end of the ice, freshman Kyle Mucha, of Sherwood Park, Alta., made 25 saves.
“I don’t think we played our best game but credit to X. They played a great game,” said Alberta head coach Eric Thurston. “We’ll need to open things up tomorrow. And we have the skills to do it. We can’t be afraid of losing. We have to play to win.”
The desperate X-Men were all over their rivals in the opening moments and pinned the Bears deep in their territory for most of the first five minutes of the contest.
Alberta was able to weather the storm however and Mucha kept the game scoreless midway through the period with a spectacular glove save off a Brett Morrison shot from up close.
The X-Men, who finished the period with a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal, finally broke the ice at 16:08.
Wray’s shot was blocked by a defenceman but the puck went straight to Magnan, who beat Mucha glove side from 10 feet out.
Alberta ended the period on the power play and had two glorious chances to tie it before the intermission but couldn’t convert. A sprawling Perricone robbed Golden Bears captain Eric Hunter five seconds before the buzzer sounded.
Hunter got his revenge seven minutes into the middle frame.
With the Bears back on the man-advantage, the fourth-year left winger from Oakbank, Alta., recovered the puck from behind the net and backhanded it to Ryan, who roofed it just under the cross-bar.
Alberta had a great chance to take the lead three minutes later while on the penalty kill, but Sean Ringrose failed to hit the net at the end of a 2-on-0 rush with defenceman Colin Joe.
Instead, it was the X-Men who went into the second intermission up by one, thanks to Chisholm’s blast from the point with 2:05 remaining. Mucha never saw the puck which went through a maze of players on its way to the back of the net.
Perricone preserved StFX’s slim lead with a spectacular glove save off a Ben Lindemulder one-timer with eight seconds left in the period.
Undershute made it a 3-1 affair only 1:16 into the final stanza with a slapshot from the left circle over Mucha’s shoulder.
Alberta’s best chance in the third came with eight minutes remaining when Joe hit the cross-bar with a wrist shot from the right circle.
The Bears finished 1-for-5 with the man-advantage, while the X-Men were blanked on two opportunities.
GAME NOTES: Two would-be Alberta goals were waived off by the referees, the first one late in the second period when it was ruled Perricone had control of the puck, and the second late in the third frame when it was determined the puck was kicked in... It marked the first meeting between Alberta and StFX at the University Cup since the sixth-seeded X-Men stunned the No. 1 Bears 3-2 in double-overtime in the 2003 tournament opener at the Aitken Centre... StFX has won its last three games against Alberta at the University Cup and holds a 3-2 all-time record versus the Bears at the championship...
SCORING SUMMARY
StFX 3, Alberta 1
FIRST PERIOD
1. StFX Phil Mangan (1) (Brennen Wray, Mark Louis), 16:08
PENALTIES:
Mark Louis (StFX) holding, 18:34.
SECOND PERIOD
2. ALB Derek Ryan (1) (Eric Hunter, Ian Barteaux), 6:42 PP
3. StFX R.D. Chisholm (1) (Brennen Wray, Phil Mangan), 18:43
PENALTIES:
Spencer McAvoy (StFX) interference, 4:46;
Team (ALB) too many men (served by JP Szaszkiewicz), 8:17;
Mark Louis (StFX) checking to the head, 12:41
Mark Louis (StFX) 10-minute misconduct (served by Kevin Undershute), 12:41;
Bryce Swan (StFX) slashing, 18:43.
THIRD PERIOD
4. Kevin Undershute (1) (Chris Hulit), 1:16
PENALTIES:
Sean Ringrose (ALB) slashing, 5:38;
Brett Morrison (StFX) interference, 11:52.
GOALS (by period)
StFX: 1-1-1:3
ALB: 0-1-0:1
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
StFX: 9-14-5: 28
ALB: 5-12-8: 25
POWER PLAY:
StFX: 0-2
ALB: 1-5
GOALTENDERS
StFX – Joseph Perricone (W, 1-1, 25 shots, 24 saves, 1 GA, 60:00)
ALB – Kurtis Mucha (L, 0-1, 28 shots, 25 saves, 3 GA, 60:00)
PLAYERS OF THE GAME:
StFX: Phil Mangan
ALB: Derek Ryan
REFEREES: Brent Holdsworth, Dominick Bédard
LINESMEN: Peter Sheppard, Justin Burchell
ATTENDANCE: 3,307
START: 2:00
END: 4:11
LENGTH: 2:11
POOL STANDINGS & RESULTS
Pool A standings (after 1 of 3 games)
GP W L GF GA PTS
1. UNB 1 1 0 2 1 2
2. Western 0 0 0 0 0 0
3. Calgary 1 0 1 1 2 0
Pool B standings (after 2 of 3 games)
1. McGill 1 1 0 2 1 2
2. StFX 2 1 1 4 3 2
3. Alberta 1 0 1 1 3 0
Thursday, March 24
Pool B #1: McGill 2, StFX 1
Pool A #1: UNB 2, Calgary 1
Friday, March 25
Pool B #2: StFX 3, Alberta 1
19:00 Pool A #2: Calgary vs. Western (SSN Canada webcast)
Saturday, March 26
14:30 Pool B #3: McGill vs. Alberta (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)
19:30 Pool A #3: UNB vs. Western (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)
Sunday, March 27
20:00 University Cup Final (Rogers Sportsnet / SSN Canada webcast)