(Halifax) - The STFX X-Men defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 7-1 on Wednesday night at the Halifax Forum, snapping a five-game losing skid in the process.
Player of the game Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) backstopped the X-Men with a 52-save performance, Matthew Philip (Ilderton, ON) scored a pair of shorthanded goals and Liam Hawel (Arnprior, ON) hit the 100-point career plateau with a goal and two assists.
Dalhousie initially handled momentum out of the gate when Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS) found a streaking Zak Smith (Austin, MB) and then found Alec Belanger (Quebec, Que.) for a slot shot, but the Raaymakers denied both shots, setting the tone of the game.
It was the X-Men who struck first as Hawel scored shoveled in a rebound after Dalhousie goalie Nicholas Chenard (Tecumseh, ON) made the initial save on a Matthew Struthers (Milton, ON) shot.
They added to the lead not long after, when Declan Smith (Antigonish, NS) evaded defenders behind the net, then found Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) who got the puck to Conner Bruggen-Cate (Langley, BC) open in the slot who roofed it.
STFX's forecheck continued to cause Dalhousie problems, as this time it resulted in Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) wristing the puck past Chenard from the slot to give X a three-goal lead 10 minutes into the game.
That would not be it for the first period scoring, as the X-Men went on the powerplay where Struthers teed up Hudson whose shot beat Chenard for his second goal of the night.
This was the last marker of the period as Dalhousie left their home ice down 4-0.
The teams came out of the break hot exchanging scoring chances. Dalhousie may have had their best chance of the game shorthanded, with Shaun Miller (Enfield, NS) and Belanger going on an odd man rush, but Belanger's shot hit off both goal posts.
The Tigers got their chance on the powerplay, but Philip and Hudson went on a shorthanded rush and Philip's shot beat Chenard far side to extend the lead.
With that goal STFX went into the third period with a comfortable five goal lead.
The Tigers cut the lead to four early in the period when Smith found Joseph Serpa (Cambridge, ON) unmarked in front of the net and he buried it to break Raaymakers' shutout.
The X-Men bounced back with two straight breakaway goals.
First a snipe by Philip as he stripped a Tigers defender of the puck at the blue line while shorthanded, skated up he left wing and beat Chenard to pot his second goal of the game.
Hawel then notched his third point of the night – and 100th of his career – when he put the puck on the stick of Clark Webster (Kensington, PE) who was streaking up the middle after sprining loose from the penalty box.
When the final buzzer rang, X was headed back home with a 7-1 win, despite being outshot 53-30.
Dalhousie will look to bounce back as the UPEI Panthers will come to the Forum Friday night. STFX will welcome the Panthers to Antigonish on Saturday.
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Recap courtesy Ethan Hunt, Dalhousie Athletics / Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics