Aigles Bleus eliminate X-Men from AUS playoffs

ANTIGONISH, NS – The Moncton Aigles Bleus are moving on to the Atlantic University Sport men's hockey championship series after a 4-1 defeat of the STFX X-Men on Tuesday night at the STFX Keating Centre in front of over 1500 fans.

With the win, Moncton sweeps STFX 3-0 in their semi-final series and will advance to play the UNB Reds in the AUS best-of-three final series. Both the Reds and Aigles Bleus have earned berths in the U SPORTS national championship being played March 15-17 at Toronto Metropolitan University.

It was a quick paced first period with both squads looking to establish an early lead. The home team got on the board midway through the period, with Liam Hawel (Arnprior, ON) getting a drop pass from rookie Raegan Wiles (Calgary, AB) and wristing one in off the bar for the top of the faceoff circle.

STFX goalie Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) had a couple of big saves in the final 10 seconds of the period to preserve the 1-0 lead. Shots at the end of the first period were 14-12 in favour of STFX.

The teams continued to press for an advantage but the second period remained scoreless until the final two minutes, with the potent Moncton powerplay again making it count. Third star of the game Olivier-Luc Hache (Savoie Landing, NB) potted one off a scramble in front of the STFX net for his second goal of the series, with Michael Cyr (Sainte-Anne, NB) assisting.

Shots at the end of the second period were 27-25 in favour of Moncton as the teams remained tied 1-1 after 40 minutes.

Les Aigles Bleus needed only 90 seconds to take a lead in the third period, with Hache making a cross ice pass to Cyr on a three-on-two and Cyr sliding one home. Thomas Pelletier (Quebec, QC had the other helper.

Moncton went on the powerplay about mid-way through the period, and while the X-Men were able to escape without conceding, the visitors made it a two-goal game shortly thereafter, with Jeremy Lapointe (Drummondville, QC) jumping on a loose puck in the X zone and scoring short side.

STFX pulled Raaymakers from the net with two-and-a-half minutes to go in favour of the extra attacker and they came close to getting on the board again with Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) one-timing a shot off the post. Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) had a nice tip off a point shot but Moncton goalie Olivier Adam (Drummondville, QC) kept it out.

Jacob Dion Sherbrooke, QC) added an empty net insurance marker with about a minute left, making the final score 4-1 in favour of the visiting Aigles Blues and ending the X-Men's season.

Shots at the end of the game were 38-35 in favour of Moncton. Adam had 34 saves on the night in the win, earning him player of the game and first star honours, while Raaymakers made 34 stops for STFX, earning him second star of the night. 

In the other semifinal series the UNB Reds swept the Saint Mary's Huskies 3-0. The AUS final series with the Reds and Aigles Bleus will be announced in the coming days.

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics