Antigonish, NS - The StFX X-Men blanked the Memorial Sea-Hawks 2-0 in their final regular season home game and seniors' day in an intense affair Sunday afternoon.
StFX enjoyed the lion's share of possession in the first half but had to stay focused until they eventually solved Sea-Hawks' keeper Dylan Crichton (Torbay, NL).
The X-Men created numerous chances through the fine play of winger Blake Fenton (Halifax, NS), though Memorial's Chris Neil (St. Phillips, NL) did a good job in containing the dynamic X player. Fomba Fambulleh (St. John's NL) was great in the midfield for the visitors as he broke up numerous Xaverian advances.
Tane Caubo (London, England) put the home team up by one after 40 minutes of play. Jack Kennedy (Antigonish, NS) started the play with a nice run before he found Dan Hayfield (Exeter, England) with the pass. Deep inside the 18-yard box Hayfield laid off the ball for Caubo, who took just the right amount of time to finish the scoring play on the Memorial doorstep.
The second half began with StFX immediately taking the initiative and doubling their lead. In the opening minute Caubo found himself once again with the ball at the corner of the 18-yard box. He made a firm pass to X freshman Liam Harrington (Halifax, NS) who showed the patience of a veteran with the ball at his feet. Instead of snatching at the ball with a first-touch shot, he took a couple of touches to get the best angle possible for his shot and then fired a goal on the near side of the net.
The Sea-Hawks showed great determination throughout the piece and a foray deep into the X half after 20 minutes resulted in a Memorial corner kick. The impressive Kyle Williams (Goulds, NL) curled in a perfect ball that found the head of Jacob Grant (St. John's NL). His header found the hand of an X player and a penalty was awarded. Grant stepped up to take the kick but his hard strike cruelly went just beyond the post.
Memorial would have another golden opportunity to score a goal when Williams made a great pass to Martin Gordillo (Cumbaya, Ecuador) who blasted a shot that found the stomach of X keeper Seamus MacDonald (Antigonish, NS).
StFX would have other opportunities to score, with substitute Quincy Meh (Ottawa, ON) having a couple of great opportunities. His best chance was as he dribbled into the box and looked to make a cross to the far post, the defenders and keeper moved in anticipation of a pass only for Meh to take a shot on net. Unfortunately for Meh his shot missed the net on the near side.
The clock ran out for the remainder of the half and the X-Men came away with the 2-0 shutout victory.
Memorial's Dylan Crichton received Player of the Game recognition for his squad, while StFX's Tane Caubo was honoured as the Subway Player of the Game.
With the win, the X-Men (7-1-3) currently sit in sole possession of second place in the AUS conference, five points up on UNB and three back of Cape Breton. They will close out the regular season with a game against ninth place face Acadia next Friday evening, October 25th in Wolfville, NS.
Memorial (4-4-2) are in seventh place, still in contention for an AUS playoff berth. They will host Dalhousie for a pair of games next weekend in St. John's on Friday and Saturday.
The Subway AUS Championship is scheduled for October 31st to November 3rd in Sydney, NS.
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Courtesy Bart Sears, StFX Sports Information