Big second period lifts X-Men over Tigers

ANTIGONISH, NS - A six-goal effort in the second period helped power the STFX X-Men to an impressive 8-1 win over the Dalhousie Tigers in AUS men's hockey action on Wednesday night at the Charles V Keating Centre.

It was the third win of the season for the X-Men, and their first at home.

The X-Men struck first, with Josh Nelson (Lockport, IL) finding the back of the Dalhousie net at 7:58. Bailey Webster (Kensington, PE) and Logan Chisholm (Antigonish, NS) had the assists. Shots at the end of the first period were 15-9 in favour of STFX.

The X-Men came out of the second intermission with some fire, and were rewarded with four goals in the first six minutes. While on the powerplay, Charlie Callaghan (Toronto, ON) carried the puck from his own end, played a give and go with Connor Roberts (Owen Sound, ON), and lifted one up high from in close with 15 seconds gone in the stanza. Just over a minute later, Sam Allison (Cole Harbour, NS) knocked one home after picking up a rebound from Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON). Conner Bruggen-Cate (Langley, BC) had the other assist.

On the next STFX powerplay, it was Trott notching another powerplay goal, going bar-down with a shot from the slot, off a pass from Matthew Struthers (Milton, ON)

Just over a minute later, Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) potted one off his backhand after breaking in alone while STFX was down two players.

STFX rookie Raegan Wiles (Calgary, AB) added to the X-Men tally with about six minutes left in the period, wiring one top shelf, with the assists going to Hudson and Nelson. Dalhousie got on the board two minutes later, with Josh Wainman (Peterborough, ON) carrying the puck in from the slot and finding pay dirt, with Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS) assisting.  

The third period started with a bit of a donnybrook, and things remained chippy for the remainder of the game. Hudson added his second goal of the game, with a tip-in off a shot from Nelson, with about six minutes left to play, and Chisholm scored the final goal of the game after breaking in two-on-one with Dallas Farrell (Cardigan, PE) with about three minutes left.

Shots at the end of the game were 51-27 in favour of STFX. Nicholas Chenard (Tecumseh, ON) had 44 saves while picking up the loss for the Tigers, while Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) made 26 saves while picking up the win.

Josh Nelson was named the player of the game and was first star, while his X teammates Jacob Hudson and Zack Trott were second and third stars, respectively.

The Dalhousie Tigers next hit the ice Friday night for a road game with UPEI. The X-Men will also travel to Charlottetown this weekend, for a match up with the Panthers on Saturday night.

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics