It was déjà vu for the StFX X-Men soccer team Friday afternoon as they fell 1-0 in penalty kicks to the Saint Mary's Huskies in AUS playoff action in Sydney. The loss marked the third consecutive year the X-Men have fallen in the AUS quarterfinal game in a shootout.
The blue and white lost to the Cape Breton University Capers (2010) and UPEI Panthers (2009) to end their previous two seasons. The X-Men have not won a playoff match since 2007.
“The game was a typical AUS soccer playoff game with both teams committed to defense and reluctant to take too many risks. We played a somewhat sloppy first half that lacked flow. We were better in the second half where we had short spells of decent soccer and had three very good chances to score but didn't,” X-Men head coach Graham Kennedy said.
Kennedy was not on the sideline during the match at the Subway AUS Championship at Cape Breton University. He was serving a one-game suspension as the result of a red card ejection from last weekend's final regular season game. Although the X-Men used this as a motivating factor to try to earn a victory for their head coach, they couldn't find the back of the net.
The two teams remained scoreless through the first half and again in the second half, despite each team having their share of scoring chances. The X-Men were pressuring late in the game but couldn't solve Huskies’ goalkeeper Adam Miller.
“We defended the way we wanted to but we didn't make quick transitions to the attacking phase. Player of the game Tom Bradley and AJ Gray sparked our attack in the second half and both were unlucky not to score,” Kennedy said.
Two 15 minute overtime periods did not solve anything. The X-Men had their chances in the second overtime frame but were again held off the score sheet.
“We took five great shots in the penalty shoot out, and unfortunately one of those shots hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced down and out and we lost 5-4 on penalties. It was hard to see our seniors lose in PKs for the third season in a row. I really feel for them,” Kennedy said.
In the first round of the shootout, Jamar Dixon (X-Men) and Elvir Gigolaj (Huskies) exchanged goals.
In the second round, X-Man Michael Marousek's shot hit just under the crossbar and bounced out, and then David Inglis scored to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead in the shootout.
Miroslav Novak, Justin MacKenzie and Ryan Casey for X-Men, while Derek Gaudet, Ian Coke and Rory Kennedy replied for the Huskies, in the final three rounds, which provided Saint Mary’s with a 5-4 advantage in the shootout.
Miller earned the win in nets for the Huskies, while Andrew MacDonald took the heartbreaking loss for StFX.
Junior Max Maund, along with seniors Jamar Dixon and Michael Marousek, were named first-team all-stars at the annual league awards’ banquet Thursday.
“Michael leaves as the all-time leading scorer in StFX soccer history and Jamar as one of our finest ever technicians. Both young men are fantastic competitors who are irreplaceable. Max is the anchor of our backline and we are fortunate that he will return for another year,” Kennedy said.
The coach added this season was particularly special for him because nine seniors completed their X-Men careers, including Dylan MacKenzie, Jessie Burgins, Paul Oppenheim, Ryan Casey, Thomas Bradley, Josh Weinberger, Mira Novak, Dixon, and Marousek.
“I have tremendous respect for each and every one of these fine young men and I will really miss them,” Kennedy said.
The Huskies will play the AUS seeded No. 1 and CIS ranked No. 2 Cape Breton Capers in semi-final action Saturday, while the AUS seeded No. 2 UPEI Panthers will meet the Dalhousie Tigers, who advanced by virtue of a 3-0 win over Moncton in the other quarterfinal game. The championship game is slated for 2 pm on Sunday at CBU.