X-Men score come-from-behind OT victory over Tommies

(ANTIGONISH, N.S.) - Jason Bast's overtime goal at 6:03 gave the X-Men a 6-5 come-from-behind victory over the St. Thomas Tommies in AUS action Friday night at the StFX Keating Centre.

The X-Men were down by two goals with just over two minutes to play in the game. R.D. Chisholm scored on the power play at 17:56 and Rob Slaney sealed the gritty comeback scoring the game-tying goal with only nine seconds on the clock as StFX had an empty net and extra attacker on the ice.

Slaney banged in the puck after a scramble in front of the net and several X shots. Josh Day and Spencer McAvoy assisted, setting the stage for the overtime frame.

Fourth-year forward Jason Bast was the overtime hero. After Tommies goaltender Jonathan Groenheyde made several big saves to keep his team in the game, Bast circled in and had a shot on goal, then followed up on his own rebound, roofing a backhander past Groenheyde.

The X-Men battled back after being down for the majority of the game.

"It was a very hard fought, important win for our team tonight," commented X-Men head coach Brad Peddle. "It was the type of game where we just found a way to win on a night when the bounces just weren't going in our favour. We were extremely proud of the effort of our team and felt they deserved the win tonight." 

The Tommies opened the scoring 5:51 into the first period while on the power play. Stephen Sanza found an open puck in front of the net and beat StFX netminder Drew Owsley. Randy Cameron and Brendan Childerley assisted.

Fifth-year veteran forward Murdock MacLellan tied the game for the X-Men at 9:12 as Cory MacIntosh fed him a puck in the slot.

The Tommies went ahead 2-1 with a Colin Martin redirected goal 4:15 into the second period. Jonathan Bonneau and Alexandre Leduc had the helpers.

Subway Player of the Game Jarrad Struthers scored his first of two goals for the X-Men at 7:27 while on the power play. MacIntosh and Day assisted as Struthers ripped a one-timer high over the left shoulder of Groenheyde.

The Tommies had a great scoring chance while on the power play, dinging one of the post, then Bonneau gave them back the lead with just over two minutes left in the second period, scoring an unassisted marker.

Bonneau broke through the StFX defence to go in alone against Owsley who came out of his net to try to poke the puck away but the Tommies forward maintained possession and was able to tuck the puck in behind the StFX goalie.

The X-Men found themselves down 3-2 after two periods of play despite holding a 26-17 shot advantage.

Cameron gave the Tommies a two-goal lead after he was the last one to touch a richocheted puck shot from the point by Felix Poulin (4:05). Bonneau also picked up an assist, his third point of the night for the Tommies.

Struthers breathed some life into the X-Men when he notched his second goal of the game at 14:47, scoring on another quick one-timer from Steven Kuhn and Zack MacQueen.

Yuri Cheremetiev rapidly re-established the Tommies two-goal advantage, however, scoring unassisted on the ensuing play just 23 seconds later.

With less than five minutes to play and down 5-3, the X-Men got their break when they went on the power play after a St. Thomas interference call at 15:57.

With only one second left on the man advantage, veteran X-Men defenceman R.D. Chisholm's floater from the point beat Groenheyde to close the gap to 5-4. Struthers and MacIntosh were in on the assists.

Slaney then sent the StFX fans into a frenzy with his last second heroics on the game-tying goal, and Bast on the ensuing overtime game winner.

Shots ended up at 38-23 in favor of the X-Men as Owsley hung on for the win. Groenheyde played well for the Tommies with 33 saves on the evening.

With the win, the X-Men improve to 4-4-0 on the season, while the Tommies fall to 2-5-1.

St. Thomas will travel to Halifax Saturday evening to face the Saint Mary's Huskies (3-5-0).

The X-Men will host the CIS No. 6-ranked UPEI Panthers (4-2-1) Saturday evening at the Keating Centre. The puck drops at 7 p.m. 

Source: StFX Sports Information