(Halifax, NS) In a game that went the distance, Michael Curtis (Georgetown, ON) scored the only goal of a ten round shootout as the Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the StFX X-Men 4-3 at the Halifax Forum Friday night.
Curtis' winning goal earned him Subway player of the game honours.
To open the game, the X-Men got on the board first, when Michael Kirkpatrick (North Sydney, NS) scored at 14:43 of the opening period, from Steven Kuhn (Oyen, AB) and Zack MacQueen.
The Huskies answered back, when second year forward, Mitchell Maynard (Cole Harbour, NS) notched a powerplay marker at 16:11 from Stephen MacAulay (Cole Harbour, NS) and Francis Menard (Embrun, ON).
Shots were even at nine apiece in the first period.
Saint Mary's took the lead in the second period when Menard tallied at 8:10. Matt Tipoff (Toronto, ON) and Ben Duffy (Lower Sackville, NS) had the helpers.
Tipoff and Duffy then connected again on the Huskies third goal at 11:30, setting up defenseman Kyle Pereira (Brampton, ON) to extend their lead to 3-1 heading into second intermission.
In the third period, the X-Men came storming back, outshooting the home team 19-7 and scoring two goals.
Cole Grbavac (Calgary, AB) tallied on the powerplay at 3:01 as Kirkpatrick and Jarrad Struthers (Glace Bay, NS) assisted. They then tied things up when Blake Gal (Lethbridge, AB) rifled a shot past Huskies netminder Anthony Peters (Blyth, ON), also on the powerplay, at 13:34 from Struthers and Nathan Chiarlitti (Maple, ON).
The X-Men pulled goaltender Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) with 1:25 left to play in an effort to pull out a victory in regulation time in order to gain ground on the Huskies in the AUS standings and avoid giving up a point in overtime.
Despite several shots on Peters, the Huskies held off the X-Men attack, forcing overtime.
Fans were treated to an exciting overtime period, but both the Huskies and X-Men were unable to score, deciding the game by a shootout.
After 10 shooters aside, Michael Curtis scored the winner to give the Huskies the 4-3 victory.
The X-Men outshot the Huskies 39-36 on the night. Peters made 36 saves to get the win for the Huskies, while Owsley stopped 33 shots for the X-Men.
With the victory, the Huskies (20-7-1) currently sit tied for second place in the AUS conference with Acadia (19-5-3), each with 41 points. UNB (22-4-2) have sealed up first place with 46 points.
The X-Men (17-8-2) have locked up fourth position with 36 points and will meet the fifth place UPEI Panthers (12-13-2) in the first round of the AUS quarterfinals next week.
Before playoffs start the X-Men will travel to Wolfville, NS for their final regular season home game Saturday night against the Axemen. An Acadia victory would seal second place for them and a first round bye as Saint Mary's await their fate.
With contributions from SMU Communications