Kontos nets OT winner as X-Men beat Tigers

ANTIGONISH, NS - Sophomore forward Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, ON) scored the OT winner as the StFX X-Men (3-1-1) skated to a 5-4 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers (1-3-1) in AUS hockey action Friday night at the Keating Centre in Antigonish.

After keeping the puck inside the Tiger blue line, senior defenseman Bronson Maschmeyer (Bruderheim, AB) skated down the boards before centering to Kontos, who re-directed the puck under the crossbar for the game-winner. Subway player of the game Eric Locke (Toronto, ON) collected the other assist at 3:08 of the extra session. 

At the 1:35 mark of the first period, Blake Gal (Lethbridge, AB) opened the scoring when he beat Dal goaltender Corbin Boes (Saskatoon, SK) with a low one-timer from the top of the slot. Defenseman Nathan Chiarlitti (Maple, ON) made a rush behind the Tiger net before centering to Gal, who made no mistake.  

The Tigers evened the affair with 9:54 remaining in the opening frame, when Jackson Playfair (Fort St. John, BC) batted in a centering pass from Alex Cote (Montreal, QC). 

On the power play, the X-Men regained the lead at 12:58, when Locke tallied a power-play goal from Steven Kuhn (Oyen, AB) and Gal.

Late in the first period, at 18:16, Tanner Williams (Iroquois, ON) notched the equalizer for the Tigers, on assists from Felix Page (Montreal, QC) and Phil Gadoury (Montreal, QC).

The X-Men tallied the only two goals of the second period to take a 4-2 lead into the final 20 minutes.

Freshman Holden Cook (Oshawa, ON) gave StFX a 3-2 advantage, when he converted a pass from line-mate and fellow first-year player Nathan Pancel (Ottawa, ON), at the 1:43 mark.

The X-Men doubled their lead less than five minutes later, when Kuhn completed a three-way passing play with Kontos and Locke, at the 6:29 mark.

The Tigers rallied in the third with a pair of goals in the final 10 minutes of regulation time to force the extra session.

At 9:41, JP Harvey (Cole Harbour, NS) banged in a bouncing puck from the lip of the crease to slice the X-Men lead to 4-3. Fabian and Daniel Walsh assisted on the marker. On the play, Daniel Walsh was injured, leading to a 15-minute delay in game action.

Nevertheless, the Tigers completed the rally at 15:18, when Williams finished off a nifty passing play for his second of the night, which evened the contest. Page and Dalhousie captain Luke Madill (Red Deer, AB) set-up the tally.

Locke (1st), Kontos (2nd) and Williams (3rd) earned the game's three-star selections.

Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB), who made key saves in the win, turned aside nine shots, while Boes made 14 saves for the Tigers in the loss.

The Tigers will return to the ice on Friday, Oct 30th, at 7 p.m., when they host the Moncton Aigles Bleus in Halifax.

The X-Men will continue a four-game home stand, with a pair of weekend games, with the St. Thomas Tommies (Friday, Oct. 30) and Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus (Sat., Oct. 31) visiting the Keating Centre.

Puck drop for both games is 7 p.m.

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