The StFX X-Men defeated the CIS No. 6 ranked Acadia Axemen 3-2 Friday evening at the Keating Centre in their final regular season home game of the season.
Brad Cuzner’s goal 3:37 into the third period held up as the game winner as fifth year X-Men netminder Joey Perricone stood tall in the StFX net with 33 saves, garnering Subway player of the game honors.
Cuzner’s goal broke a 2-2 tie and was the only goal of the evening scored on even strength. The first year forward squeezed through the Axemen defense to break in alone against goaltender Peter Disalvo, beating him on a nifty deke to notch the go-ahead and eventual game winner. Ryan Fortune assisted on the play.
The X-Men had opened up the game with a 2-0 lead on consecutive power play goals. Freshman Cole Grbavac tipped in a Jarrad Struthers pass that came across the slot to beat Disalvo in close at 13:03 of the first period. Cory MacIntosh also picked up an assist on the play.
The 1-0 lead held after 20 minutes of play, despite the X-Men being outshot 10-6 by Acadia in the first period.
Brennen Wray scored StFX’s second goal 49 seconds into the second period, also on the man advantage. He tipped in a Josh Day shot from the point as team leading scorer Jason Bast picked up the second helper.
The remainder of the period belonged to the visiting Axemen as Alex Beaton and Chris Owens scored power play goals to even the game at 2-2.
After Cuzner nearly gave the X-Men a 3-0 lead on a shorthanded attempt that was stopped point blank by Disalvo, the Axemen moved into the offensive zone and set up their first goal off the stick of Beaton who banged in a rebound in front of Perricone. Cullen Morin and Michael ward assisted.
Owens goal came at 10:02 as his shot from the point handcuffed Perricone. Mike Cozzola and Andrew Clark picked up the helpers as the 2-2 tie held through two periods. Acadia outshot the X-Men by a 24-11 margin through 40 minutes.
Despite holding an 11-5 shot advantage in the third, the visiting Axemen could not solve Perricone and Cuzner’s lone period goal held to give the X-Men the victory. Shots ended 35-16 in favor of Acadia as Disalvo was tagged with the loss. Perricone earned his seventh win of the season for the X-Men.
StFX improves to 14-10-2 with two games remaining on the AUS regular season schedule. They will play seventh place Dalhousie (8-15-3) in Halifax on Saturday night. With 30 points, the X-Men are currently tied for fourth place with UPEI and will be looking to gain on third place Acadia who now have a 16-8-2 record and 34 points.
The Axemen will host the second place Saint Mary’s Huskies (17-7-2) on Saturday night. Sitting two points behind the Huskies, Acadia will need a win for a shot at the second place finish overall and a chance at the first round playoff bye. The UNB Varsity Reds (21-5-0) have first place locked up with 42 points.