(ANTIGONISH, N.S.) - Keyed by a three-goal explosion in the opening 10 minutes of the first period, the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus skated to a 6-1 win over the StFX X-Men in 2014 Subway AUS men's hockey championship quarterfinal playoff action Friday night at the Keating Centre in Antigonish.
With the win, Moncton secured a 2-0 victory in the best 2-of-3 playoff series and a spot in the league semifinals.
Les Aigles Bleus opened the scoring at 1:13 of the first period on a wrist shot from Alex Emond, who beat X-Men goaltender Drew Owsley blocker side on a 2-on-1 breakaway. Eric Faille and Danny Chiasson assisted on the marker.
At 3:35, Faille made it 2-0 when he roofed a wrist shot from the left wing over the left shoulder of Owsley. Emond and Simon Lacroix assisted.
On the power-play, Emond scored his second of the game, on assists from Alex Saulnier and Samuel Groulx, at 9:14.
The teams played a scoreless second period until the 16:52 mark, when Moncton capitalized on a 3-on-1 breakaway, with defenceman Pierre Durepos joining the rush and scoring on a pass from Alex Saulnier. Pier-Antoine Dion added the other assist on the fourth Aigles Bleus goal.
In the third period, Moncton stretched its lead to 5-0 on an unassisted goal from Emond at 11:52 to complete his hat trick.
Michael Kirkpatrick of the X-Men broke the shutout effort of Adrien Lemay with a power-play goal at 16:30. Rob Slaney and Jason Bast garnered the assists on StFX's lone goal of the game.
At 18:56, Luc Williams scored the final goal of the game, on the power-play and into an empty net, with assists from Faille and Keven Levesque.
Lemay made 25 saves for the win, while Owsley turned aside 20 shots.
Emond, with four points, was named the first star and Subway Player of the Game. Faille and Kirkpatrick received the second and third star nods, respectively.
Moncton will now face the Acadia Axemen in a best 3-of-5 AUS semifinal series. The UNB Varsity Reds await the outcome of the UPEI-Saint Mary's series for their opponent in the other semifinal series.
Source: StFX Sports Information