In the first full weekend of AUS men's hockey action, the StFX X-Men played to victories over the Acadia Axemen and the Saint Mary's Huskies, extending their record to 14-5-1 to sit in second in the standings.
The X-Men first edged the Axemen in Wolfville Saturday evening, where the home team Axemen were unable to capitalize on their early lead in the game and ended up falling 3-2 to the StFX X-Men. StFX goals came from William Bower, Matthew Philip (PP) and Ethan Crossman, while Acadia goals came from Johnny Corneil and Keegan Stevenson (PP). It was a strong night for the goalies, as Max Paddock stopped 25 of 28 shots for Acadia while his StFX counterpart and third star of the game Joseph Raaymakers turned aside 27 of 29 shots.
StFX then hosted the Huskies Sunday afternoon, playing to a 7-4 victory at home. StFX goals in the game came from StFX's Zack Trott, Matthew Struthers, Liam Hawel, Santino Centorame (2), Matthew Philip and Declan Smith. Acadia goals came from Dawson Theede, Jonathan Hampton, Bradey Johnson and Justin MacPherson. For his efforts, Santino Centorame was named the game's first star and Subway player of the game.
The UNB Reds remain at the top of the AUS men's hockey standings after playing to a 3-2 win over the UPEI Panthers Saturday night. The game-winning tally came from UNB's Jason Willms with just 3:19 to play in regulation. Mark Rassell and Kade Landry also found the back of the net in the victory, with TJ Shea and Richard Whittaker scoring for UPEI in the loss.
Despite the loss to the Reds, the Panthers split their weekend games, earning a 4-1 win over the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus Friday night. TJ Shea, Troy Lajeunesse (PP), Kyle Maksimovich and Jesse Sutton all scored for UPEI in the win, with Nathael Roy scoring the lone goal for Moncton in the loss.
The Dalhousie Tigers edged the Huskies 5-4 Saturday night. Dalhousie tallies came from Cameron Thompson (2), Evan MacKinnon, Christian Huntley and Matt Green, while Saint Mary's goals came from Walter Flower III, Andrew Coxhead, Bradey Johnson and Nathan Dunkley.
Scores and recaps:
Friday, February 18
UPEI 4 at Moncton 1
Acadia at Dalhousie (Postponed)
Saturday, February 19
Dalhousie 5 at Saint Mary's 4
StFX 3 at Acadia 2
UPEI 2 at UNB 3
Sunday, February 20
Saint Mary's 4 at StFX 7
Current standings:
- UNB Reds (18-2-0) - 36 points
- StFX X-Men (14-5-1) - 29 points
- Dalhousie Tigers (10-8-1) - 21 points
- UPEI Panthers (9-8-2-1) - 21 points
- Saint Mary's Huskies (7-11-1-1) - 16 points
- Acadia Axemen (6-13-0) - 12 points
- Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (5-13-1-1) - 12 points