ANTIGONISH - Despite the home side losing, it was a Halloween night treat for fans at the Keating Centre Saturday night as the visiting Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus (5-1-1) skated to an exciting 6-5 overtime win over the StFX X-Men (4-1-2).
At 2:51 of the extra session, Steve Lebel (Lemoyne, QC) one-timed the game-winning goal behind X-Men goaltender Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) during a 4-on-3 power play.
The X-Men forced overtime after rallying from a two-goal deficit in the final 3:47 of the third period.
Trailing 5-3, AUS leading scorer Eric Locke (Toronto, ON) roofed a wrist shot from a sharp angle over the shoulder of Moncton goaltender Adrien Lemay (Moncton, NB) to slice the X-Men deficit in half. The power-play marker came at the 16:13 mark.
With Owsley on the bench for an extra attacker, freshman Michael Clarke (London, ON) banged in the rebound of a Bronson Maschmeyer (Bruderheim, AB) point shot with 12 seconds remaining in regulation. Nathan Chiarlitti collected the other assist for the X-Men.
In the loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak, the X-Men opened the scoring at 5:02 of the first period on a tally from freshman Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, NS), with assists from Brad Cuzner (Glace Bay, NS) and Steven Kuhn (Oyen, AB).
Tremaine also hit the goal post twice in the first frame.
At 2:21 of the second period, Moncton tied the contest on a power-play goal from Alex Saulnier (Cap-Pele, NB), who collected a hat-trick in the game. Pierre Durepos (Shediac, NB) and Allain Saulnier (Cap-Pele, NB) notched the assists.
At 8:46, the X-Men took their first lead, with Locke beating Lemay five-hole, on assists from Craig Duininck (St. Cloud, MN) and Cory MacIntosh (North Sydney, NS).
Less than two minutes later, at 10:36, Moncton made it 2-2 on a power-play goal from Alex Noel (Dieppe, NB), on an assist from Danny Chiasson (Lameque, NB).
Chiarlitti restored the one-goal X-Men advantage on assists from Locke and Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, ON), at the 13:32 mark.
Moncton rebounded with a power-play goal from Alex Saulnier, on assists from Allain Saulnier and Mitchell Robillard (Laval-Ouest, QC) to make it 3-3.
With 30 seconds remaining in the second period, Alex Saulnier gave Moncton the lead on assists from Robbie Graham (Richibuctou, NB) and Allain Saulnier.
At 10:09 of the third period, Allain Saulnier gave the visitors a 5-3 edge, when his shot from just inside the X-Men blueline deflected off Maschmeyer's stick and fooled Owsley, which helped set the stage for the late-game X-Men rally.
Lemay made 35 saves for the win, while Owsley turned aside 21 shots in the loss
The first star and Subway player of the game was Alex Saulnier, while Allain Saulnier and Locke were the second and third stars, respectively
The X-Men will be back in action Wednesday, Nov. 4, when they travel to Halfiax to face the CIS #8-ranked Saint Mary's Huskies.
Moncton will return to the ice Friday, Nov. 6, when they battle the CIS #1-ranked UNB Varsity Reds in Fredericton.
Puck-drop for both games is 7 p.m.
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