Huskies top X-Men 4-3 in AUS season opener

(ANTIGONISH, N.S.) - Steven Trojanovic's power play goal with 2:44 left in the game gave the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies a 4-3 victory over the StFX X-Men in the AUS season opener for both teams Tuesday evening at the Charles V. Keating Centre.

The screen shot from the defenceman Trojanovic (Burlington, Ont.) found its way past StFX goaltender Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, Alta.) as Stephen Johnston (Guelph, Ont.) and Matt Tipoff (Toronto, Ont.) assisted on the game winner.

The Huskies held a slight 30-28 shot advantage over the X-Men in a closely fought game laced with minor infractions.

X-Men captain Rob Slaney (Portugal Cove, Nfld.) opened the scoring as he tallied on his first shift of the game, beating Huskies netminder Anthony Peters (Blyth, Ont.) on what appeared to be a harmless shot off a Michael Kirkpatrick pass (North Sydney, N.S.) 37 seconds into the game.

The remainder of the period was occupied by penalties and power play opportunities by both teams as the X-Men and Huskies were each called for four minor infractions.

Saint Mary's took advantage of a power play opportunity as Steven Shipley (Ilderton, Ont.) scored at 13:39 from Tipoff and Subway player of the game Johnston.

The X-Men replied with their own power play goal off the stick of defenceman Bronson Maschmeyer (Bruderheim, Alta.) at 16:54 as he put away a rebound over the right shoulder of Peters. Slaney and Kirkpatrick had the assists.

The X-Men outshot the Huskies 12-5 in the opening frame.

The Huskies started the second period with two quick goals. Johnston scored just 21 seconds in shorthanded from Tipoff and Peters, then Ben Duffy (Lower Sackville, N.S.) potted the third SMU goal at 1:16 as Stephen MacAulay (Cole Harbour, N.S.) and Kyle Pereira (Brampton, Ont.) had the helpers.

Kirkpatrick tied the game at 3-3, scoring a power play marker for the X-Men at 4:22. Assists came from Ryan Fortune (Cole Harbour, N.S.) and first year defenceman Craig Duininck (St. Cloud, Man.).

Shots in the second period favored the Huskies at 16-4.

The third period brought more penalties early on and was closely fought as the teams exchanged scoring chances. Saint Mary's had a power play chance with nine minutes left but StFX held them off.

With 3:37 left to play, X-Men forward Rob Slaney was called for interference, the power play chance leading to Trojanovic's game-winning goal late in the game. The X-Men pulled Owsley with under 30 seconds left but couldn't score the equalizer.

The X-Men outshot the Huskies in the third period by a 12-9 margin.

Peters had 25 saves for the Huskies for the win, while Owsley turned aside 26 pucks for StFX.

Both teams next see action this coming Friday and Saturday evening. The Huskies will host St. Thomas and UPEI in Halifax, while the X-Men hit the road for games at Moncton and UNB.

Source: StFX Sports Information