In Week 8 of the AUS men's hockey season, the StFX X-Men earned back-to-back wins for their third-straight victory, while the UNB Reds 12-game winning streak came to an end.
The X-Men kicked off the week with a 6-2 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax Wednesday evening. Connor Roberts led the way in the win, netting two goals to earn Subway Player of the Game honours. Other StFX tallies came from Josh Nelson (PP), Mark Woolley, Liam Hawel and Conner Bruggen-Cate (SH), while Dalhousie goals came from Christian Huntley (PP) and Dillon Boucher. Joseph Raaymakers made 26 saves in net for the victory.
The StFX X-Men then made it three wins in a row thanks to a home ice shootout victory over the UPEI Panthers, who are ranked sixth in the country and sit second in the AUS. X-Men forward Matthew Struthers was the lone goal scorer in the shootout, with StFX backup goalie and Subway player of the game Lucas Pfeil stopping all three Panther attempts. Goals in regulation came from StFX's Patrick Kyte, Zack Trott, Matthew Struthers (2) and Connor Roberts (PP), and from UPEI's TJ Shea, Kyle Maksimovich, Drake Pilon (SH) and Troy Lajeunesse (PP).
Friday night in Wolfville, the U SPORTS No. 1 ranked UNB Reds earned a 2-1 overtime win over the host Acadia Axemen. For the Reds, the win marked their twelfth in a row. Acadia's Keegan Stevenson opened the scoring in the first until UNB's Cole MacKay tied the game at 1-1 in the second. After a scoreless third, the game headed into overtime where UNB's Brady Gilmour earned the game-winner for the Reds.
Saturday, Saint Mary's goaltender Jeremy Helvig turned away 50 shots, and forward Cedric Ralph scored the shootout winner, as the Huskies defeated Reds to end their 12-game winning streak. Goals in regulation came from Saint Mary's Andrew Coxhead and UNB's Camaryn Baber, while Helvig was named Subway Player of the Game for his efforts in net.
Despite their loss to the X-Men Friday, the Panthers bounced back Saturday with a 6-3 win over the Dalhousie Tigers. Kyle Maksimovich led the way with two goals and an assist, while teammates Drake Pilon and Troy Lajeunesse recorded a goal and an assist each. Danil Antropov and Leon Denny also scored in the win, and TJ Shea finished with three assists. Dalhousie goals in the loss came from Evan MacKinnon, Dillon Boucher and Christian Huntley.
The Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus split their weekend games, first edging the Huskies 7-6 Friday night in Halifax. Aigles Bleus forward Charles Edouard Drouin was named Subway Player of the Game with two goals. Mika Cyr (two goals, two assists) and Nathael Roy (two goals, one assist) also had multi-point nights for the Aigles Bleus. Andrew Coxhead led the Huskies with three points (two goals and one assist), while Nathan Dunkley (one goal, one assist), Jaxon Bellamy (one goal, one assist), Joel Bishop (one goal, one assist), and Justin MacPherson (two assists) also had multi-point nights for the Huskies.
The Aigles Bleus visited the Axemen in Wolfville Saturday night, where the Axemen snapped their seven-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over Moncton. Subway First Star of the Night Merrick Rippon and third star of the night Bailey Peach contributed to their team's offensive outburst with a goal apiece, while Eric Henderson, Corson Hopwo and Nick Deakin-Poot also recorded tallies in the win. Moncton goals in the loss came from Thomas Pelletier (PP) and Remy Anglehart.
Scores:
Wednesday, Nov. 23
StFX 6 at Dalhousie 2
Friday, Nov. 25
Moncton 7 at Saint Mary's 6
UPEI 4 at StFX 5 (SO)
UNB 2 at Acadia 1 (OT)
Saturday, Nov. 26
Dalhousie 3 at UPEI 6
UNB 1 at Saint Mary's 2 (SO)
Moncton 2 at Acadia 5
Current Standings
- UNB Reds (13-2-1) - 27 points
- UPEI Panthers (11-4-1) - 23 points
- Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (10-6-0) - 20 points
- Saint Mary's Huskies (9-7-0) - 18 points
- StFX X-Men (8-8-0) - 16 points
- Acadia Axemen (4-9-2-1) - 11 points
- Dalhousie Tigers (1-14-1) - 3 points