X-Men hang on for 4-3 win over Tigers

Antigonish, NS – The StFX X-Men defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 4-3 on Wednesday night in AUS action from the Charles V. Keating Centre.

The X-Men got out to a 3-1 first period lead thanks to a pair of goals by Matt Graham (Bedford, NS) and a power play marker by Jeremiah Addison (Etobicoke, ON).

Graham scored just over five minutes in as he put in a rebound between the legs of Tigers netminder Reilly Pickard (Halifax, NS).

Dalhousie responded right away, however, as Jonathan Cyr Ottawa, ON) scored just 28 seconds later, banking the puck in the X net off the far post to even things up.

Graham scored his second of the period a minute later as X-Men captain Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, NS) found him open in the slot.

Addison rounded out the scoring at 16:28 while on the power play as Cole MacDonald (Westaskiwin, AB) made a nice cross-ice pass and Addison wired the shot past Pickard.

The X-Men outshot the Tigers 13-5 in the opening period.

The second period saw no scoring as the Tigers fired 13 shots on goal to the X-Men's eight. The Tigers had a couple power play chances but could not convert.

The X-Men went 0-for-1 on the power play in the middle period.

Connor Hicks (Kanata, ON) took over for Pickard in the Tigers net, turning aside all pucks that came his way.

The Tigers continued their strong defensive play in the third period as they fought off a five minute major penalty. Dillon Boucher (Head Chezzetcook, NS) was assessed a major for hitting from behind.

StFX scored shortly after their power play expired as Bailey Webster (Kensington, PE) fed a nice pass to Lane Cormier (Hopewell, NS) and he beat Hicks to give the X-Men a 4-1 lead with 11 minutes to go in the game.

Tempers heated up with eight minutes to go as there was some shoving and roughing in front of the DAL bench. The X-Men had another man-advantage as a result but were unable to score.

Connor Donaghey (St. John's, NL) had the Tigers best scoring chance of the period with just over four minutes to play as he found himself alone in front of the X net after a giveaway in the X-Men zone, but was stopped by netminder Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON).

Dalhousie then put on a late charge as Chandler Yakimowicz (Kingston, PA) scored back-to-back goals within a minute and a half late in the period. On both occasions the puck found its way to his stick as he was alone in front of Raaymakers and he found the mesh both times.

Trailing 4-3, the Tigers pulled Hicks from the net in favour of the extra attacker but the X-Men held on as time expired.

Raaymakers finished with 24 saves in the game as the X-Men outshot the Tigers 33-27.

Tigers captain Colton Heffley (Dartmouth, NS) was named the game's third star.

X-Men forward Matt Graham with his two-goal performance was the second star, while X-Men captain Mark Tremaine was the first star and Subway player of the game.

The Tigers will be back in AUS action on Friday night as they host UPEI in a 7:00 pm at the Halifax Forum.

The X-Men travel to Charlottetown Saturday night for a game against the UPEI Panthers.

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Courtesy Krista McKenna, StFX Sports Information