The AUS Men's hockey season kicked off in dramatic fashion Wednesday night as the StFX X-Men topped the Dalhousie Tigers 7-6 in a shootout in Halifax. With one scorer a-piece it came down to sudden death, and Adam Holwell stepped up and made a great deke to get to the backhand and just barely slide it under the pad of Connor Hicks to give the X-Men the comeback victory. Hicks had an impressive 50 save game for the Tigers. Goals from the X-Men came from Adam Laishram, Mark Tremaine (PP), Cole MacDonald, Sam Studnicka (2) and Bryson Cianfrone, with Dalhousie's Colton Heffley, Cameron Thompson (PP), Campbell Pickard (2), Matt green and Jonathan Cyr (PP) also getting on the board.
Saturday evening, the X-Men played to a very convinicing 9-2 win over the UPEI Panthers. StFX was led by player of the game Bryson Cianfrone, who earned a hattrick on the night, with two of the goals coming on the powerplay. Other X-Men goals came from Lane Cormier, Matt Needham (2), Adam Holwell (PP), Jeremiah Addison (PP) and Mark Tremaine (SH). Darian Pilon and Kyle Maksimovich got on the board for the Panthers in the loss.
The X-Men finish opening weekend as the only undefeated team.
The reigning USports men's hockey champion UNB Reds split their weekend games for a 1-1 record. They scored five unanswered goals in the third period to beat the Saint Mary's Huskies 9-3 Friday night. Alexandre Goulet led the Reds with a hattrick on the night, with teammates Kris Bennett (2), Mark Simpson, Matthew Boucher, Oliver LeBlanc and Mark Rassell also earning a tally. Goals from the Huskies came from Stephen Johnson, Anthony Repaci and Dawson Theede (PP).
Saturday evening, the Reds fell short in Wolfville, as the Axemen played to a 6-4 victory at home. Mason McCarty led the Axemen with two goals on the night, with other Acadia goals coming from Liam Maaskant, Jack Flaman, Garrett McFadden (PP) and Jordy Stallard. UNB goals came from Tristan Pomerleau, Mark Rassell, Alexandre Goulet and Tyler Boland.
Bouncing back from their devastating shootout loss on opening night, the Tigers played to a 5-4 shootout victory when they visited the UPEI Panthers in Charlottetown Friday night. Duncan MacIntyre delivered the shootout winner for the Tigers. Tigers goals came from Aiden Jamieson, Brett Crossley, Jonathan Cyr and Andrew Shewfelt while Kameron Kielly and Kyle Maksimovich scored a pair of goals each for the Panthers.
The Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus opened their season with a 5-2 win Friday night when they took on the Acadia Axemen. Wilson Forest was first on the board for Moncton with a power play goal, while teammate Joey Richard added two tallies on the night, followed by a goal from Edouard Michaud and an empty netter from Alexis Roy. Johnny Corneil and Cristiano Digiacinto got onto the board for the Axemen.
The Aigles Bleus then visited the Huskies Saturday evening, where they fell 3-2 in overtime, but managed to pick up a point. Stephen Johnson stuffed home the rebound in overtime to get the win for the Huskies. With the game winning goal, he was awarded the Subway Player of the Game. Keith Getson earned a powerplay tally for the Huskies, with Mitchell Balmas also getting on the board in the win. Edouard Michaud also earned a powerplay goal for Moncton, with teammate Vincent Lanoue also finding the back of the net.
Scores:
Wednesday, Sept. 25
StFX 7 at Dalhousie 6 (SO)
Friday, Sept. 27
Dalhousie 5 at UPEI 4 (SO)
Moncton 5 at Acadia 2
UNB 9 st Saint Mary's 3
Saturday, Sept. 28
UPEI 2 at StFX 9
UNB 4 at Acadia 6
Moncton 2 at Saint Mary's 3 (OT)