Fredericton, NB – The CIS ranked No. 5 StFX X-Men defeated the No. 1 UNB Varsity Reds 3-2 in Game 1 of the Subway AUS best-of-3 final series Monday night at the Aitken Centre.
Subway player of the game Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) made 36 saves in the StFX net for the victory as the X-Men jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the game.
"We came out hard tonight and it's a huge win," commented the fourth year netminder after the game. "It's great coming back home for us for Game 2 but it's not going to get any easier."
The AUS all-star goalie came through early in the game with several saves for the X-Men as the AUS top seeded Varsity Reds came out on the attack.
The opening ten minutes of the game was dominated by UNB chances and shots on goal as they shut down the X-Men offense.
X-Men forward Adam Stevens (Bedford, NS) had a good chance for StFX as he redirected an Eric Locke (Toronto, ON) pass wide of the UNB net seven minutes into the game, missing the open cage.
Alex Wall (Mount Pearl, NF) replied with a great chance for UNB in tight against Owsley at the 11:30 mark but was denied.
It was the X-Men who got on the board first as Stevens and Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, ON) skated in on an odd-man rush with Stevens passing to Kontos and back to Stevens who tucked the puck between the legs of goaltender Etienne Marcoux (Terrebonne, QC). The goal came at the 14:43 mark.
The X-Men then went on the power play shortly after their goal as V-Reds forward Cam Braes (Shawinigan Lake, BC) was sent to the box for high sticking.
Philippe Halley (Quebec City, QC) nearly tied the game as he went in alone on Owsley on a shorthanded breakaway attempt, but Owsley came up with the stop.
The X-Men went up 2-0 with a power play goal at 15:45. Freshman forward Holden Cook (Oshawa, ON) fired the puck out front of the Varsity Reds net in the slot area and the puck bounced off the skate of UNB defenseman Jordan Murray (Riverview, NB) and then in under the pads of Marcoux. Michael Clarke (Peterborough, ON) and Locke picked up assists.
The Varsity Reds outshot the X-Men 13-7 in the first period though it was the visitors who held a 2-0 lead after 20 minutes.
In the opening minute of the second period, AUS most valuable player Eric Locke had consecutive shots turned aside by Marcoux. After the initial save, Locke picked up his own rebound and the puck rang off both posts, staying out of the UNB net.
Clarke notched the third X-Men goal 5:07 into the second period as Cook feathered a pass up the side, finding Clarke alone in tight as he fired a shot up high over the shoulder of Marcoux. Trey Lewis (Aldouane, NB) also had a helper on the play for StFX.
UNB had one of their best chances of the middle period with seven minutes left as Owsley denied Francis Beauvillier (St. Hyacinthe, QC) and Wall on consecutive shots. Halley had a decent shot on net for the V-Reds shortly after but couldn't solve Owsley.
At the other end Locke played a strong period for the X-Men, creating scoring chances for X.
With under three minutes to play in the second, Braes connected a pass to Murray who had a quick shot on the X goal with Owsley coming up with another save.
UNB broke the goose egg when defenceman Randy Gazzola skated over the blue line and snapped a wrist shot from the top of the circle, beating Owsley high on the blocker side with 1:41 left in the period. Halley and Wall picked up assists on the play as the X-Men held the 3-1 lead after 40 minutes.
Shots favored UNB 15-13 in the second period.
UNB took to the power play to start the third period as Craig Duininck (St. Cloud, MN) was called for interference 24 seconds into the period. The X-Men were able to kill off the penalty then had their own power play chance as Halley was sent off for tripping as the UNB power play expired.
It was the V-Reds who had the best scoring chances on the StFX man-advantage however, as forward Dylan Willick (Kamloops, BC) grabbed the puck on an X turnover and skated in alone, shorthanded, and hit the cross bar.
The Varsity Reds then had a key 2-on-1 chance, also shorthanded, but Owsley held his ground.
On another power play chance six minutes into the period, the Varsity Reds were unable to find the back of the StFX net.
Marcoux came up big for the V-Reds with nine minutes left with a save on a high shot from Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, NS), then a Steven Kuhn (Oyen, AB) rebound. Nathan Pancel (Ottawa, ON) followed up with a shot on net for X on the next face-off and was denied by Marcoux.
With 5:34 left to play in the game, Maillet made it interesting, scoring UNB's second goal to pull them to within one. As he skated inside the blue line he used X-Men defenseman Jagger Dirk (Penticton, BC) as a screen, getting off a low shot that beat Owsley on the blocker side.
Beauvillier almost tied it up as he rang one off the StFX goal post with just under four minutes to play.
With 1:15 left on the clock, the Varsity Reds pulled Marcoux for the extra attacker. They had a flurry of shots directed towards the X goal in the final 30 seconds but were unable to score the equalizer.
Finals shots were 38-29 in favor of the Varsity Reds.
With the win the X-Men take a 1-0 series lead and carry momentum into Game 2 on Wednesday night on home ice at the StFX Keating Centre.
A win on Wednesday would clinch the series and the AUS championship banner for the X-Men. The last conference win for StFX came in 2004.
UNB are the defending AUS champions and also claimed the banner for three consecutive years from 2010 to 2013.
Puck drop is 7:00 pm on Wednesday night in Antigonish.
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Courtesy StFX Sports Information