Huskies stay alive with shutout win over X-Men

Photo courtesy Nick Pearce
Photo courtesy Nick Pearce

Halifax, NS - The Saint Mary's Huskies defeated the St. Francis Xavier X-Men 4-0 in Game 3 of their Subway AUS men's hockey best of five semifinal series Monday night at the Halifax Forum.

With the win the Huskies force Game 4 as the X-Men lead the series 2-1. 

The Huskies wasted little time getting on the board when Stephen Gillard (St. Johns, NL) scored off a screened point shot 1:51 into the game.

Saint Mary's increased their lead when Subway player of the game Francis Menard (Embrun, ON) tallied off a partial break at 4:42.

The Huskies kept it up with little time to spare when Bradley Greene (Tilting, NL) potted a marker from the circle that just squeaked through at 19:53 to give Saint Mary's a 3-0 lead after the first period.

In the second period, the Huskies struck again when Menard got his second goal of the evening off a nice backhand in close at 7:10. The 4-0 lead held up after two periods.

There was no scoring in the third, but that didn't stop either team from keeping up the speed and intensity present the entire game. For the X-Men, Nathan Chiarlitti (Maple, ON) and Eric Locke (Toronto, ON) led their team with four shots on goal.

The X-Men outshot the Huskies 28-21 and were 0 for 8 on the power play. Cole Cheveldave (Calgary, AB) made 28 saves to get the shutout and the win for the Huskies. Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) stopped 17 shots in goal for the X-Men.

StFX will have another opportunity to clinch the series when they visit the Huskies in Game 4 on Wednesday at 7:00 pm at the Forum. The Huskies look to even the series on Wednesday night and force Game 5 back in Antigonish on Friday.

Courtesy Saint Mary's Sports Information