Antigonish, NS - The StFX X-Men skated to a 4-2 win over the visiting UPEI Panthers in Game 1 of the 2015 Subway AUS best-of-three men's hockey quarterfinal series Wednesday night.
First-year forward Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, ON) broke a 2-2 tie with an unassisted game-winning goal at the 11:52 mark of the third period.
After winning the face-off, he ripped a low shot behind Mavric Parks (Eganville, ON) of the Panthers.
In front of more than 700 fans at the Keating Centre, the X-Men opened the scoring late in the first period.
At the 18:30 mark, Ted Stephens (Whitehorse, YT) roofed a shot over the shoulder of Parks after taking a nifty backhand pass from Eric Locke (Toronto, ON). X-Men captain Rob Slaney (Portugal Cove, NL) garnered the other assist.
The X-Men doubled their lead at 3:38 of the second period, when Jarrad Struthers (Glace Bay, NS) re-directed a waist-high point shot from Jagger Dirk (Penticton, BC) into the top corner. Defenseman Bronson Maschmeyer (Bruderheim, AB) also notched an assist on the tally.
X-Men goaltender Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) held the Panthers scoreless until Brent Andrews (Hunter River, PE) deposited his own rebound at the 13:58 mark of the second period. Nelson Armstrong (Peterborough, ON) and Darcy Ashley (Brooklyn, PE) assisted on the first UPEI goal.
The Panthers completed their rally at 7:01 of third, when Travis MacIsaac (Uigg, PE) scored the equalizer, on assists from Nick Czinder (West Bloomfield, MI) and Matthew Brenton (Stewiacke, NS).
Brad Cuzner (Glace Bay, NS) wrapped up the scoring with an empty-netter, on assists from Slaney and Locke, who both tallied their second points of the game.
Owsley made 22 saves for the win, while Parks turned aside 19 shots in the loss.
The Subway player of the game and first star was Steven Kuhn (Oyen, AB), while the second and third stars were Kontos and MacIsaac.
Game 2 of the series is set for Friday, Feb. 13 in Charlottetown, with puck drop scheduled for 7 p.m.
Game 3, if necessary, will take place Sunday, Feb. 15, in Antigonish, beginning at 7 p.m.
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