X-Men hand Acadia first loss of the season

(ANTIGONISH, N.S.) - The StFX X-Men (1-3) skated to a 4-3 win over the CIS No. 3-ranked Acadia Axemen (3-1) in AUS hockey action Wednesday night in Antigonish.

In front of more than 600 fans at the Keating Centre, StFX jumped to a 2-0 advantage in the first two minutes of the opening period.

At the 50-second mark, X-Men captain Rob Slaney (Portugal Cove, Nfld.) deposited a backhander behind Acadia netminder Brandon Glover (Victoria, B.C.). The rebound goal came off a point shot from freshman defenceman Jagger Dirk (Penticton, B.C.). Michael Kirkpatrick (North Sydney, N.S.) notched the other assist.

"We wanted to come out with a lot of energy and get off to a fast start," Slaney said after the game.

Less than one minute later, at 1:44, Cole Grbavac (Calgary, Alta.) scored on a centering pass from linemate Ted Stephens (Whitehorse, Yukon). Defenceman Trey Lewis (Aldouane, N.B.) had the other helper.

"I didn't have to do a whole lot. Ted [Stephens] put the pass right on my tape and I was able to score," Grbavac said.

While on a 5-on-3 man advantage, the visiting Axemen sliced the lead in half at 5:55 on a goal from Daniel Poliziani (Burlington, Ont.), with assists coming from Sam Fioretti (Calgary, Alta.) and Travis Gibbons (London, Ont.).

At the 5:26 mark of the second period, Christopher Owens scored an unassisted, shorthanded goal to tie the game 2-2. Owens made a rush, avoided a sliding X-Men defender and then roofed a shot over the right shoulder of X-Men goaltender Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, Alta.).

On the same X-Men power play, Jarrad Struthers (Glace Bay, N.S.) gave the home side a 3-2 lead when he completed a nifty three-way passing play from Grbavac and assistant captain Nathan Chiarlitti (Maple, Ont.) at the 6:05 mark, just 39 seconds after the Owens tally.

Grbavac, with his second of the night, gave the X-Men a 4-2 lead at 8:07. From the lip of the crease, the junior put the rebound of an Eric Locke (Toronto, Ont.) shot behind Glover. Blake Gal (Lethbridge, Alta.) had the other assist on the play.

Zachary Franko (Winnipeg, Man.) made it 4-3 in the third period, on an assist from Boston Leier (Saskatoon, Sask.), but the Axemen could get no closer.

Keying the win was the X-Men shutdown line of Struthers, Steven Kuhn (Oyen, Alta.) and Zack MacQueen (Woodstock, Ont.), who stymied the high-flying threesome of Mike Cazzola (Guelph, Ont.), Liam Heelis (Georgetown, Ont.) and Brett Thompson (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) of the Axemen. That Acadia line, which tallied 22 points in the first three games of the regular season, was held scoreless.

For the game, the X-Men had 24 shots, while the Axemen recorded 32. Owsley made 21 saves for StFX, while Glover blocked 28 shots for Acadia.

"Our first couple games were tough ones. We battled hard but didn't get the wins," Slaney said. "This was a big one for us, and I think it is going to start to turn things around."

The three stars of the game were Grbavac, Chiarlitti and Leier.

Acadia will be back in action with a pair of home games against the UNB Varsity Reds (Friday, Oct. 24) and Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus (Saturday, Oct. 25) in Wolfville.

The X-Men return to action this weekend with a two-game road swing through New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. Friday, Oct. 24, at 7 p.m., StFX will face off against the St. Thomas Tommies in Fredericton. The blue and white will visit Charlottetown to play the UPEI Panthers on Saturday, Oct. 25, beginning at 7 p.m.

StFX will be back on home ice on Halloween night (Friday, Oct. 31), when they host the CIS No. 2-ranked UNB Varsity Reds. Game time is set for 7 p.m. at the Keating Centre.

Source: StFX Sports Information