Antigonish, NS - The U SPORTS No. 4 ranked StFX X-Men topped the Dalhousie Tigers 4-1 Friday night at the Keating Centre, improving to a perfect 5-0 to start the AUS season.
Despite a pair of power play opportunities for the visiting Tigers, the first period held no goals for either team, with Dalhousie outshooting StFX 10-7.
The first goal of the game came 3:08 into the second period when Mark Tremaine, while on his knees, made a pass to Sam Studnicka (Windsor, ON) who found the top corner of the net, beating Tigers goaltender Corbin Boes (Saskatoon, SK).
The X-Men scored their second goal of the evening, also in the second period, at 12:37 when Jagger Dirk (Penticton, BC), assisted by Michael Clarke (London, ON) and Holden Cook (Oshawa, ON), snuck one between the pads of Boes, with a shot from slot.
Shots in the second period were 12-10 favouring StFX as they held the 2-0 advantage after 40 minutes.
Following a scuffle in front of the net, the X-Men extended their lead while on the power play at 6:27 of the third period. Forward Nathan Pancel (Ottawa, ON) added the tally off a rebound. Matt Needham (Penticton, BC) fed him the puck.
Dalhousie answered with a third period goal of their own at 12:37 with an extra attacker on the ice during a delayed StFX penalty call. Defenseman Colton Heffley (Swift Current, SK), assisted by Jackson Playfair (Fort St. James, BC) and Luke Madill (Red Deer, AB) was able to get the only shot of the evening past X-Men goaltender Chase Marchand (Halifax, NS).
Following a Dalhousie time-out, the Tigers pulled Boes in favour of an extra attacker, leading to the final goal of the evening. Studnicka added his second goal of the game on the empty net with 1:27 left on the clock following assists from Adam Stevens (Bedford, NS) and Michael Clarke (London, ON).
With his two-goal performance, Studnicka was awarded Subway player of the game and first star honours. Turning aside 29 shots, X-Men goaltender Chase Marchand earned second star, and Tigers' forward Jackson Playfair was awarded third star for his strong performance.
Shots in the game narrowly favoured StFX with 31 to Dalhousie's 30. StFX was 1-for-6 on the power play, while Dalhousie went 0-for-4.
StFX is on the road to face the Université de Moncton tomorrow evening at 7:00 pm. Dalhousie also faces Moncton next, visiting them on Wednesday October 25th.
Courtesy Kiana Pace, StFX Athletics Communications