Huskies clinch third place with win over X-Men

HALIFAX, NS – Saint Mary's forward Reid Valade scored a hat-trick, leading the Huskies to a 11-5 win over the STFX X-Men in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action on Friday night at the Dauphinee Centre.

The Huskies got off to a strong start, scoring five goals in the first period. Forward Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS) started off the scoring as he picked up a pass from defenceman Caelan McPhee (Ancaster, ON) and snapped a shot past X-Men goaltender Patrick Leaver (Perth, ON), giving the Huskies a 1-0 lead, just 1:35 into the first.

The Huskies doubled their lead with a powerplay goal from forward Charlie Da Fonseca (Thornhill, ON) who banged in a rebound off the initial shot from Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON), putting Saint Mary's up 2-0, 4:13 into the first.

The X-Men got one back several minutes later, as forwards Ben Mercer (New Glasgow, NS) and Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) skated in on a two-on-one, with Trott playing a pass to Mercer who snuck a shot past Huskies netminder Ben West (Barrie, ON), cutting the lead to 2-1, 6:24 into the first.

But the Huskies kept pressing and would restore the two-goal lead just a minute later, as forward Jake Uberti (Toronto, ON) scored on a great individual effort, splitting a pair of X-Men defenders before roofing a shot past Leaver, who was then replaced by Lucas Pfeil (Owen Sound, ON).

The first shot Pfeil saw resulted in another Huskies goal, as Reid Valade (Caledon, ON) took a pass from Derek Gentile on a three-on-two breakout and lifted it over Pfeil's pad to make it 4-1 Huskies, 10:42 into the second period.

Just over three minutes later, Valade scored his second of the period, taking a cross-ice pass from defenceman Connor Olson (Belleville, ON) and lifting a shot that beat Pfeil to extend the lead to 5-1.

The Huskies outshot the X-Men 21-8 in the first period, and took a commanding 5-1 lead into the first intermission.

The X-Men came out in the second period looking to cut into the lead, but Ben West was sharp in nets for the Huskies, making a great save on X-Men defenceman Sean Stewart (Antigonish, NS).

Saint Mary's added to their lead with a shorthanded goal, when forwards Cedric Ralph (Peterborough, ON) and Will Chisholm (Lunenburg, NS) broke out on a two-on-one, with Ralph patiently waiting before sliding a pass to Chisholm who finished it off to extend the lead to 6-1, 5:06 into the second period.

Less than two minutes later the Huskies went on the powerplay and Reid Valade finished off his hat-trick, as he tipped in a shot from Derek Gentile for his third goal of the night, putting Saint Mary's ahead 7-1, 6:53 into the second period.

STFX got one back later in the period, as forward Colby Saganiuk (Pittsburgh, PA) threw a shot on net that was turned away by Ben West, but Bill Gourgon (Carp, ON) jumped on the rebound to cut the Huskies lead to 7-2.

Late in the period, the X-Men frustration boiled over and a series of penalties resulted in a Huskies 5-on-3 powerplay, where goaltender Lucas Pfeil stood tall making several fantastic saves.

The Huskies outshot the X-Men 13-9 in the second period, and took a 7-2 lead into second intermission.

Early in the second period, the X-Men had a powerplay opportunity but the Huskies penalty kill continued to impress, as they scored two more shorthanded goals.

First it was Cedric Ralph and Will Chisholm, who for the second time on the night, capitalized on a shorthanded two-on-one opportunity, with Chisholm returning the favour to set-up Ralph for the goal, 1:48 into the third period.

Just 20 seconds later, Derek Gentile made it 9-2 Huskies, as he took a pass from Caelan McPhee and fired a high shot that beat Pfeil.

The X-Men got a powerplay goal just 14 seconds later, with Charlie Callaghan (Toronto, ON) scoring to cut the lead to 9-3, 2:22 into the third period.

The scoring didn't end there, as both teams scored two more goals in the final minutes. Connor Trenholm scored a powerplay marker to make it 10-3, but was quickly answered by STFX's Ben Mercer's second goal of the night.

Moments later, Reid Valade sparked Charlie Da Fonseca on a breakaway, and Da Fonseca made no mistake, lifting a backhand for his second goal of the night. In the final minute of regulation, STFX's Ryan Struthers scored to cut the lead to 11-5, which would go down as the final score.

Reid Valade was named Player of the Game with three goals and an assist. Derek Gentile (two goals, two assists), Charlie Da Fonseca (two goal, two assists), Cedric Ralph (one goal, one assist), Will Chisholm (one goal, one assist), Jake Uberti (one goal, one assist), Caelan McPhee (two assists), Connor Olson (two assists) and Ben Allison (two assists) also recorded multi-point nights for the Huskies.

The Huskies outshot the X-Men 46-27 on the night, with Ben West stopping 21 shots for the win, while Lucas Pfeil made 30 saves in relief of Patrick Leaver (5 saves).

With the win the Huskies finish the regular season with a 17-11-2 record, good for third place in the conference. They'll head into the AUS playoffs as the #3 seed, where they will host a quarterfinal against the UPEI Panthers (9-19-0-2) with schedule information to be announced.

The X-Men loss drops their record to 14-12-1-1 on the campaign. STFX will finish off the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 15, as they visit the Acadia Axemen (14-13-1-1) in a game that will determine fourth place in the conference.

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Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics