X-Men top Huskies 7-4

Antigonish, NS - STFX men's hockey captain Santino Centorame (Mississauga, ON) had a two goal night in the X Men's 7-4 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies on Sunday. It was the first game back at the Charles V. Keating Centre for the U SPORTS No. 4 ranked X Men since late November.

STFX got on the board first at 4:11 of the first period. Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) carried the puck from the corner into the slot and fired a high shot that made its way through some traffic into the net. Connor Roberts (Owen Sound, ON) and Josh Nelson (Lockport, IL) had the assists.

Less than 20 seconds later, Liam Hawel (Arnprior, ON) picked up the puck off a misplay from Huskies goalie Matt Welsh (Halifax, NS) behind the net and fed Matthew Struthers (Milton, ON) for a tap in to the open net.

Saint Mary's replaced Welsh with Xavier Potvin (Austin, QC) after the goal.

Huskies forward Dawson Theede (Brooklin, ON) made it a one goal game at 10:07, after taking a pass from behind the net and beating X goalie Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON). Sam King (Hampton, NB) and Bradley Johnson (Lindsay, ON) had the helpers.

Saint Mary's was next on the board, with Jonathan Hampton (Richmond Hill (ON) tying the game with a shorthanded marker, streaking in alone on the penalty kill after getting a pass from Caellan MacPhee (Ancaster, ON) at 12:25.

The lead was short lived, however, with Hawel stripping a SMU player of the puck in the offensive zone then putting a nifty move on Potvin at the 15 minute mark with an unassisted effort.

Shots at the end of the first were 11-8 in favour of X as they held a 3-2 lead on the scoreboard.

The teams exchanged chances in a back and forth second period that remained scoreless until the 18:05 mark when Centorame (Mississauga, ON) rang one in off the post from the point. Hawel and Struthers had the assists. Shots at the end of the second were 20-16 in favour of X.

There were plenty of hits and some chippy play in the third but little action on the scoreboard until Saint Mary's cut the lead to one at 8:02. Justin MacPherson (East Gwillimbury, ON) passed from the corner to Bradley Johnson (Lindsay, ON), who roofed one from the face-off dot.

The score didn't stay that way for long, with X regaining the two-goal lead at 8:51. William Bower (Saint John, NB) sprung Matthew Phillip (Ilderton, ON) on a breakaway, and Phillip beat Potvin with a low shot from in close.

Declan Smith (Antigonish, NS) made it a three goal game, at 11:11, picking up a pass from the draw from Bower, and putting it home.

The Huskies added to their total at the 12-minute marker, with MacPherson hitting the back of the net through traffic, with Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON) and Andrew Coxhead (Bedford, NS) assisting.

The two-goal lead wasn't enough for StFX though, and Centorame added his second of the night with just under four minutes left in the game. Bower picked up his third assist of the game, feeding Centorame in the neutral zone and the X captain put one five-hole for the score.

Shots at the end of the game were 33-27 for the X-Men. Potvin made 24 saves for the Huskies, with Welsh adding two, while Raaymakers earned his 13th win of the season with 23 stops.

After the match, Centorame said the team wanted to stick to the basics. 

"Whenever you have a big break like that, you want to keep things simple," he said. "Just work hard and good things will come. Our game is very simple; just chip pucks in, get after it, and work their D. I think if we keep doing that we should be fine." 

For his efforts he was named the game's first star and Subway player of the game. STFX's Bower was second star and SMU's MacPherson was third star.

STFX is on the road Wednesday to take on Dalhousie before returning to Antigonish on Friday, to host UPEI. Saint Mary's hosts Moncton on Friday.

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Courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Sports Information

Congrats to Santino Centorame, Subway Player of the Game with 2G in the X-Men's 7-4 win over SMU! #goxgo #subwayfuel pic.twitter.com/cZOlEet9eY

— StFX Athletics (@StFXAthletics) February 21, 2022