Posted: Feb 15, 2013
StFX had mounted a comeback after being down by scores of 3-0 and 4-1 to tie the game at 4-4 and force the extra play. Matt Maione was the overtime hero for the Panthers as his blast from the point beat StFX goalkeeper Drew Owsley.
The Panthers got out to an early 3-0 first period lead, much to the delight of the sold out crowd at MacLaughlin Arena. Tyler Brown scored unassisted at 12:01 as his wrist shot beat starting X goalie Joey Perricone low on the short side.
Mason Wilgosh notched the second Panthers goal at 17:29 from Matt Boyle and Mike MacIsaac, then Travis McIsaac scored with only 28 seconds left in the period while on the power play. Freshman StFX forward Cole Grbavac was assessed a five minute major for checking from behind and a game misconduct. Chris Desousa and Dylan Quaile assisted on the McIsaac goal.
The Panthers outshot the X-Men by a lopsided 22-6 margin in the first period. Owsley came in for the second period in relief of Perricone in the StFX net.
Michael Kirkpatrick breathed some life back into the blue and white as he potted a goal 23 seconds into the second period, his low slapshot beating Panthers netminder Wayne Savage. Nick Pageau and Josh Day were in on the play with the assists.
The home team Panthers re-established their three-goal lead as Desousa scored on the power play at 4:50, banging in a rebound in front of the X net. Alex Wall and Mike MacIsaac picked up the helpers.
StFX closed the gap as Nick Pageau fired a puck across the faceoff circle at the Panthers net and Zack MacQueen got his stick on it to tip it in past Savage. Steven Kuhn also assisted.
Shots were 13-11 in favor of the X-Men in the second period as the Panthers held the 4-2 advantage after 40 minutes of play.
The X-Men were a different team in the third period, firing shots towards the UPEI net. Brad Cuzner broke into the Panthers zone and beat Savage with a nice shot to the top corner at 6:44. X-Men pressure resulted in a tying goal from team leading scorer Jason Bast. He found the puck in the slot and fired one home past Savage, who had made several key saves to keep the Panthers in the game. Ted Stephens and Kirkpatrick assisted on the tying goal at 14:26 and the 4-4 score held through to the end of regulation.
Shots were 41-34 in favor of UPEI after three periods of play, though they were outshot 15-8 in the third period by StFX.
A ten minute five-on-five overtime period didn’t solve anything, forcing the second overtime period to decide the outcome. The X-Men managed to fight off a penalty after being called for too many men on the ice.
Matt Maione’s game winning goal came at 8:47 into the second overtime period, from Tyler Brown.
Shots on goal finished at 46-41 for UPEI. Savage had 37 saves in the winning effort. Perricone had 19 saves on 22 shots, while Owsley posted 22 saves on 24 shots in the StFX net as the X-Men see their season come to an end.
The Panthers win the best two-of-three game AUS quarter-final series 2-0. They posted a 4-3 win on Wednesday night in game one in Antigonish. UPEI will either play the first seeded UNB Varsity Reds or the second seeded Saint Mary’s Huskies, depending upon the outcome of the other quarter-final series between Acadia (3) and Moncton (6). That series is locked at 1-1 and will be decided Sunday night at Acadia.