Tigers and X-Men advance to Finals of the Don Wells Tournament

(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - The Nova Scotia university men's hockey exhibition season kicked off Saturday with the opening round of the Don Wells Memorial Tournament hosted by Acadia University.

In game one, the Dalhousie Tigers were matched up against their cross-town Halifax rivals, the Saint Mary's Huskies.

The Tigers got two goals from third-year forward Brad McConnell and two assists from Francois Gauthier to win the first game of the annual Tournament over the Saint Mary's Huskies.

Huskies captain and reigning CIS player of the year Lucas Bloodoff scored twice, but it wasn't enough to fend off the Tigers.

Matt Tipoff scored the other goal for Saint Mary's on a beautiful snapshot from the slot.

Winnipeg, Man., native McConnell put Dalhousie ahead to stay with a goal 37 seconds into the third period, converting a feed from rookie linemate Alex Cote.

Tyler Hart added an insurance goal on the power play with 13:14 remaining in the game.

Special teams were the difference in the penalty-filled affair. Dalhousie converted on two-of-six power-play opportunities while Huskies converted on only one of five chances. Wendell Vye of the Tigers went all the way and stopped 36 of 39 shots and was named Subway Player of the Game.

Game two featured the hometown Acadia Axemen, who added six new faces to the lineup against the StFX X-Men.

Acadia came out with a jump in their step in the opening game of the exhibition season.

After a slew of chances early, Mike Cazzola scored the game's opening goal from the high slot after a perfect pass by Acadia's newest captain Liam Heelis. StFX then went on to score three unanswered starting in the second period to put the game away.

Steven Kuhn started things off for the X-Men with a two-on-one goal five minutes into the second. North Sydney native Michael Kirkpatrick scored the eventual game winner on the power play, six minutes later, to put the X-Men up 2-1. Jason Bast added an insurance goal, sniping one off the bar at the start of the third frame to seal the deal.

The game saw Acadia head coach Darren Burns split time between both Acadia goalies Evan Mosher and rookie Brandon Glover.

All three goalies played well, each made exceptional saves, but at the end of the day it was Drew Owsley and the StFX X-Men that came out victorious, with Owsley receiving the Subway Player of the Game award.

The tournament continues on Sunday with the championship game at 1 p.m., featuring the Dalhousie Tigers and the StFX X-Men. The Consolation game, scheduled for 6 p.m. will have the Axemen hosting the Saint Mary's Huskies.

Source: Acadia Sports Information