X-Men pick up third straight win

Antigonish, NS - The StFX X Men hockey team earned their third win in a row with a 5-3 victory over the visiting Acadia Axemen at the Charles V Keating Centre on Friday night.  

The game started off quick with both teams pressing for an early lead. X-Men blueliner Adam Holwell (St. John's, NL) got the ball rolling at the 7:03 mark on the powerplay. Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) fired the puck deep into the Acadia zone, where Patrick Kyte (Pembroke, ON) stopped it at the hash marks. Holwell jumped on the loose puck, skated to the frot of the net, beat a defender, and slid the puck home.

Just over four minutes later, X doubled their lead with Josh Nelson (Lockport, IL) taking a back pass from Zach Trott (Mulmur, ON) in close and burying it. Acadia pressed hard but the teams went into the locker room after 20 minutes with the score still 2-0. Shots at the end of the first were 8-6 in favour of StFX.

Acadia's first goal of the game came on the power play. Working the puck in the X zone, Adam MacMaster (Beamsville, ON) passed the puck over to Luke Zazula (Langley, BC) who put it on the tape of Acadia captain Garrett McFadden (Kincardine, ON) for a one-timer with 7:20 played in the second stanza.

StFX didn't back down and replied just over three minutes later. The play started on the stick of Hudson, who made a quick pass to Matthew Struthers (MIlton, ON), who put it in front of the net for Philip, who banged in his first of two goals on the night.

Shots at the end of the second period were 19-12 in favour of X as they held a 3-1 lead.

In the third period, Acadia cut the lead to one on the powerplay at the 3:32 marker. A McFadden shot from the slot hit some traffic in front and Johnny Cornell (Lindsay, ON) slid  the puck into the net. Peyton Hoyt (Fredericton, NB) had the other assist.  

Just over a minute later, Hoyt evened the score, knocking in another loose puck after a point shot. McFadden and Nicholas Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, ON) had the assists.

X pulled ahead for good on the powerplay with 13:47 played in the third period. Liam Hawel (Arnprior, ON) hit Struthers with a pass at the Acadia blueline. Struthers skated in and passed to an open Philip, who backhanded in what proved to be the game winner, his second of the night.

Acadia called a time out with 1:54 left to play and the puck in the X zone. They pulled their goalie and came back to the fold with 6 skaters. It didn't pay off though with X clearing the zone and Hawel putting home the empty netter. Struthers and Trott had the assists.

McFadden, with three assists, was third star of the game. Struthers, also with three assists, was second star, and Philip was first star and Subway player of the game for his two goal performance.

"I haven't had a two-goal game in a while but I've got to thank my teammates for giving me good passes," said Philip after the game. "I'm just glad we got the two points."

As for the team's winning streak and keeping that momentum going, Philip said the goal is to keep things simple in the dressing room and stick to the game plan.

"We've got a great team in there," he said. "We got close really early and we know what kind of team we have and want to keep that going forward."

At the end of the game, shots ended 25-21 in favour of the X-Men. Max Paddock (Brandon, MB) had 22 saves on the night for Acadia, while STFX netminder Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) had 18.

It's a quick turnaround for the X Men, who take on St. Mary's Huskies on Saturday at the Keating Centre. Acadia's next game is against UNB on November 12. 

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Courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics

Congrats to X-Men forward Matt Philip! Subway Player of the Game in STFX's 5-3 win over Acadia scoring 2 goals! #SubwayFuel pic.twitter.com/KURrE3l6ed

— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) November 6, 2021