Antigonish, NS - In their final pre-season exhibition game of the season, the Saint Mary's University Huskies and the STFX X-Men battled to a 1-1 draw in a Saturday afternoon match at StFX Stadium.
Despite a physical first half with strong offensive opportunities for both teams, the match remained scoreless at halftime.
As both teams battled to secure a win, the referee was forced to make a number of calls for both the X-Men and Huskies. In the 50th minute, Logan Rieck (Cambridge, ON) scored the lone goal for the X-Men as he stepped up to take a free kick from outside of the Huskies' 18-yard box, curling the ball into the back of the net. Only moments later, Rieck seemed destined to secure a second goal for the X-Men as he earned another free kick, but his shot ricocheted off the crossbar.
Unwilling to give up their fight, the Huskies responded by testing the X-Men defence with several strikes on goal. Their efforts were rewarded in the 75th minute as a cross into the StFX box was headed into the goal at close range by veteran defender Cameron Zinn (Bridgewater, NS). Though both teams fought until the end of the match, the score remained 1-1 at the final whistle.
SMU will return home for their second pre-season exhibition match against the St. Thomas University Tommies at 2pm tomorrow.
The X-Men will open AUS regular season play next Friday at home, kicking off at 7:15pm against the Acadia Axemen.
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Recap courtesy Alyssa Spridgeon, STFX Athletics Sports Information