Halifax, NS – Capitalizing on an early penalty opportunity, the StFX X-Men were able to hold on for a 1-0 win over the Dalhousie Tigers Sunday afternoon.
The aggressive pace of the match led to a few cards being shown early, including one that lead to a penalty kick for the X-Men. Dan Hayfield (Exeter, UK) lined up at the spot and calmly tucked his shot just inside the left post, underneath the arm of Ben Grondin (Calgary, AB).
The X-Men continued to hold much of the possession in the half, generating a few great opportunities for redirections in the box off the head of Blake Fenton (Halifax, NS) but Grondin was in perfect position each time.
Quincy Meh (Ottawa, ON) made a great move around a Tigers defender to force Grondin to commit to coming off his line. Meh was patient enough to wait for Grondin to make a dive before getting outside him and taking his strike, but he was just a bit too deep as the shot struck off the post and went wide.
Just before the end of the half, Hayfield stepped up for a free-kick from just outside the box. The attempt curled perfectly over the wall, but Grondin was able to dive and get hands on it to direct it away.
With that, the teams went into the half with the X-Men leading 1-0.
Much of the second half possession was once again controlled by StFX, keeping the Tigers pinned in their own half.
The Tigers were able to generate short bursts of attacking pressure, but were unable to generate a shot on goal through most of the half.
The Tigers best opportunity came from a deep free kick that found Freddy Bekkers (Halifax, NS) at the far post. Bekkers met it with a head, but the redirect was just high and went off the top of the crossbar.
The Tigers chances ran out as the final whistle blew and StFX took home the 1-0 victory.
Nick Aquino was named the Subway Player of the Game for the X-Men, controlling the midfield all match long.
The teams will next see action when the Tigers hit the road on Friday to Wolfville, NS to take on Acadia, while the X-Men will play their next game on Saturday at Mount Allison.
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Courtesy Kirk Jessome, Dalhousie Sports Information