X-Men beat Mount Royal 2-1 in U SPORTS consolation semifinal
X-Men advance to consolation final with 2-1 win over Mount Royal in consolation semifinal game
Oshawa, ON – The STFX X-Men have advanced to the consolation final and will be playing for fifth place with a 2-1 win over the Canada West finalists Mount Royal Cougars in Friday's consolation semifinal game at the U SPORTS championship at Vaso's Field.
The X-Men will await their next opponent for the consolation final being played Saturday, November 9th at 5:00 pm AST in Oshawa. They will be facing the winner of the Ontario Tech Ridgebacks vs UNB REDS game.
Goals by Camera Shaw and Isaac VanWhychen helped the X-Men secure the win.
Both teams had their scoring chances in the opening 30 minutes of the game. STFX's Noah MacIntyre fired a shot high of the Cougars net 10 minutes in.
Kwasi Oteng-Frimpong and Ethan Keen had shots directed on the X goal in the 16th and 19th minutes but Oteng-Frimpong's missed wide and X-Men goalkeeper Sam Diltz got his hand on Keen's ball off a free kick to redirect the ball over the net.
He made a diving save five minutes later off a shot from Cougars forward Joshua Flaksman.
Shaw's goal came in the 35th minute to give the X-Men a 1-0 advantage and it was a nifty one as he took a crossed ball from Fergus Hall, flipped it forward then back heel kicked it into the Cougars net past netminder Sjard Strauss.
Shaw had another scoring chance three minutes later but his one-timer off a pass from Logan Rieck went high.
The X-Men continued their pressure late in the half and held onto the 1-0 lead after 45 minutes.
The Cougars switched out their goaltender for the second half as Bryce Benton took to the field.
He made a save off a Shaw corner kick in the 55th minute but could not get a handle on the ball for the X-Men's second goal off a set piece two minutes later.
After Rieck delivered a low free kick, the ball bounced around the box, finding it's way to the foot of VanWhychen who made no mistake in tapping it in for a 2-0 STFX lead.
The Cougars responded with a marker of their own in the 59th minute as Sklyer Rogers sent a long cross to Flaksman on the wing. He one-touched it to beat a diving Diltz and close the X lead to 2-1.
Mount Royal looked for the equalizer but the STFX defense held strong. Max Bodurtha was honoured as the STFX player of the game for his strong play on the X backline.
Rieck nearly made it a two-goal X-Men lead with five minutes to play with a shot in close, but Benton was up for the save.
The Cougars had a few shots directed towards the X goal late in the game but Diltz held his ground and made key saves to keep the lead intact.
Final shots were 18-11 in favour of the X-Men and 9-9 for shots directed on goal.
The X-Men will look to take their second consecutive win on the national stage when they play in the consolation final Saturday at 5:00 pm EST.
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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics
