The StFX X-Men fell 5-1 in Wolfville, NS Wednesday night to the CIS ranked No. 7 Acadia Axemen, dropping their third consecutive AUS game. The Axemen outshot StFX 42-19 in a match that saw 125 minutes in penalties handed out.
Acadia opened up the game with strong defense, holding the X-Men to only one shot in the opening period to their 18. The Axemen scored one goal in the first period as Liam Heelis redirected a Leo Jenner shot at 15:54 while the teams were playing 4-on-4 hockey.
The X-Men were given a spark when second year forward Ted Stephens scored on a breakaway 5:35 into the second period. Murdock MacLellan and Gabe O’Connor assisted on the goal as Stephens broke in alone and picked the high corner, blocker side on Axemen goaltender Peter DiSalvo.
Michael Kirkpatrick then rang one of the post for the X-Men, but it was the Axemen who would strike next. Andrew Clark netted what would be the eventual game winner at 13:33 of the second period while Acadia was shorthanded. X-Men goalie Drew Owsley made the initial save off a Heelis shot, but did not see the open rebound lying in the crease and Clark merely had to bang it into the open side of the net.
The Axemen padded their lead to 3-1 after two periods when Jonathan Laberge scored just 58 seconds later on a wrist shot that beat Owsley on the blocker side. Dylan Anderson and Brett Thompson picked up assists on the play.
Shots were 31-9 in favor of Acadia after forty minutes. Despite narrowing the shot margin to 11-10 in favor of the home team in the third period, the X-Men were unable to produce any goals.
The third period also brought out the rough side of the two teams as 113 total penalty minutes were assessed. At the midway point of the final frame, Acadia’s Andrew Clark and StFX’s Cory MacIntosh were sent off for cross-checking and ten-minute misconducts. Clark also picked up an additional minor for slashing, and his teammate Chris Owens and X-Man Derek Claffey left the ice with ten-minute misconducts as well.
Acadia picked up their fourth goal of the game while on the power play at 15:24 as Subway player of the game Thompson scored with Dustin Ekelman and Travis Gibbons assisting. Thompson then scored his second of the game less than two minutes later, from Heelis and Colin Archer to up the Acadia lead to 5-1.
With 2:20 left to play, a melee broke out in front of the StFX net and after all the dust had settled, four more players (two aside) were sent off with ten-minute misconducts. When play finally resumed, first year X-Men forward Cole Grbavac and Axemen defenseman Cullen Morin were assessed roughing penalties at 18:34 as they dropped the gloves. Grbavac also received a match penalty for fighting which carries an automatic one game suspension.
When the final buzzer sounded, the Axemen skated away with the 5-1 victory, outshooting the X-Men 42-19. DiSalvo picke dup his 11th win of the season with 18 saves, while Owsley was tagged with his fifth loss.
Acadia improves to 14-6-1, winning their second consecutive game, while StFX drops to 11-8-2 and finds themselves on a three-game losing skid. They remain in fourth place in the AUS conference, trailing the third place Axemen by five points.
Next on the schedule for the X-Men is a pair of home games this coming Friday and Saturday, January 18th and 19th. On Friday night they will host the seventh place Dalhousie Tigers (6-12-3), followed by a Saturday night match against the second place and CIS ranked No. 4 Saint Mary’s Huskies (15-5-1). Game times both evenings at the StFX Keating Centre is 7:00 pm.