Halifax, NS - The StFX X-Men defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 4-3 to claim the Subway AUS semifinal series 3-1 Wednesday night at the Halifax Forum in front of 2029 fans. With the win they not only advance to the AUS finals, but they also punched their ticket at the CIS University Cup national championship.

The X-Men overcame a 3-0 deficit to take the win as the Huskies wasted no time getting on the board. Alex Cord (Toronto, ON) scored off a wild scramble in front of the StFX net only 41 seconds into the game.

Saint Mary's quickly lit the lamp again when Subway player of the game Matt Tipoff (Toronto, ON) tallied off a shot from above the circle that slowly fluttered its way into the net at 1:44 to give them an early 2-0 lead. 

The Huskies increased their lead in short order when Tipoff scored his second of the game on the backhand, rebounding a point shot through at 3:01 on the powerplay to make it 3-0, stunning the visitors as X-Men head coach Brad Peddle called a timeout to regroup his team.

The X-Men cut into the lead when Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, ON) potted a marker off a one-timer from the circle at 8:05 on the powerplay.

The X-Men made it interesting when Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, NS) scored off a wild scramble at 15:57 on the powerplay to get the blue and white to within one as the 3-2 score held after the first period.

In the second period, the X-Men tied things up when Brad Cuzner (Glace Bay, NS) scored by intercepting a pass and putting it home from the slot. The goal was the only one of the middle frame as the 3-3 tie held after 40 minutes.

The third period saw the X-Men get the crucial game winner when AUS most valuanle player Eric Locke (Toronto, ON) tallied off another one-timer from the circle at 10:51, scoring his first goal of the AUS playoffs.

Despite several Saint Mary's attempts to get the equalizer, including an extra attacker on the ice in the final mintue with an empty net, fell short as the X-Men held on for the win. 

The X-Men outshot the Huskies by a 37-34 margin. Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) made 31 saves to get the win for the X-Men. Cole Cheveldave (Calgary, AB) stopped 33 shots in goal for the Huskies. 

The X-Men move on to play the first place UNB Varsity Reds in the best-of-three AUS final to decide the winenr of the AUS championship. The series begins on Monday in Fredericton with the V-Reds hosting Game 1.

Game 2 will be at the StFX Keating Centre on Wednesday, March 9th at 7:00 pm. Game 3, if necessay will be back at UNB on Friday, March 11th.

Both the X-Men and Varsity Reds have qualified for the CIS Unviersity Cup national championship taking place March 17-20 in Halifax at the Scotiabank Centre. The Huskies will also be at the University Cup as the host squad.

Courtesy SMU Communications