(St. John's, NL) – The StFX X-Men downed the Memorial Sea-Hawks by a 4-1 score on Saturday afternoon at King George V to sweep their weekend series. The win pushed the X-Men (8-3-1) into second place overall in the AUS conference, which earns them a first round bye in the Subway AUS Championship next weekend in Sydney, NS.
StFX controlled much of the play throughout both halves, but were unable to find the back of the net in the first half, despite 15 shots and 11 corner kicks. Keeper Sam Hawco (Mount Pearl, NL) has been a bright spot for the Sea-Hawks all season long, making 11 first half saves to keep the game scoreless.
The X-Men kept the pressure on the Sea-Hawks to start the second half and were rewarded with a goal off the foot of AUS leading goal scorer Dan Hayfield (Exeter, UK).
William Warren (Windsor, NS) extended the X-Men lead to 2-0 with a goal in the 63rd minute, followed by Hayfield's second of the game, just moments later.
Sea-Hawks rookie Harry Carter drew the home side closer with an impressive finish off of a free kick, but Hayfield later completed the hat trick to close out the game 4-1 for StFX.
Freshman X-Men midfielder Ayoub Al Arabi (Halifax, NS) was named the Subway Player of the Game.
The loss ends the Sea-Hawks (1-8-3) season, as they fall outside of AUS playoff contention. The X-Men advance to battle for the AUS title as Cape Breton hosts the Subway AUS Championship November 1-4. With the first round bye directly into the semifinals, StFX will await a quarter-final winner and play on Friday. The complete playoff schedule will be posted on www.atlanticuniversitysport.com.
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Courtesy Memorial Sports Information