Halifax, NS – Blake Gal accounted for two of the X-Men's four unanswered goals in a 4-2 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers Saturday evening.
A second year forward from Lethbridge, AB, Gal scored the X-Men's first and fourth goals of the game as they overcame a 2-0 first period deficit.
JP Harvey and Fabian Walsh each scored unassisted markers at 2:28 and 10:17 of the opening period to give the Tigers an early 2-0 advantage as they outshot the X-Men 13-6.
Gal, the Subway player of the game, answered back for the X-Men at 5:17 of the second period while on the power play. Jagger Dirk (Penticton, BC) and Michael Kirkpatrick (North Sydney, NS) assisted.
At 11:31, Dirk tied the game as he scored for StFX from Cole Grbavac (Calgary, AB) and Kirkpatrick.
StFX outshot Dalhousie 10-4 in the middle period.
Zack MacQueen (Woodstock, ON) gave the X-Men the lead at 5:52 of the third period in what would stand up as the game winning goal. Mitchell Taylor (Newmarket, ON) picked up a helper on the play.
Gal rounded out the scoring with his second power play goal of the game at 17:25. Nathan Chiarlitti (Maple, ON) and Kirkpatrick assisted, picking up his third point of the evening.
Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) earned the win between the pipes for the X-Men with 22 saves.
Shots were even at 24 apiece as Corbin Boes was tagged with the loss for the Tigers.
The game marked the final one of the first half of AUS regular season play for both teams.
With a 10-5-1 record and 21 points, the X-Men sit in fourth place in the AUS standings. They resume AUS action on Saturday, January 3rd when they host Saint Mary's (12-3-1). Puck drop is 7:00 pm at the StFX Keating Centre.