Bloodoff nets 2 in Huskies 7-3 win over X-Men

(HALIFAX, N.S.) - The StFX X-Men have not played well on the road this season, putting up a 2-10 record away from the Keating Centre. The trend continued on Saturday night at the Halifax Forum.

The Saint Mary's Huskies (12-14-0) snapped a three-game losing streak against the X-Men (11-12-3), scoring a whopping seven goals in the process. Lucas Bloodoff scored twice and picked up an assist while Stephen MacAulay notched three helpers.

Bloodoff's power-play goal at 4:45 of the first period gave the Huskies a 1-0 lead. Bloodoff was planted in front of Drew Owsley's crease when he redirected Kyle Pereira's low point shot.

At 7:31, Francis Menard doubled his team's lead when he completed a tic-tac-toe passing play. On an odd man rush, Cory Tanaka and Steven Beyers set up a wide-open Menard for his sixth goal of the season.

Unhappy with his team's slow start, StFX head coach Brad Peddle took an early timeout to rally his troops. The maneuver seemed to have the opposite effect, however, as the Huskies quickly scored again at 8:58. This time it was Ryan Hillier scoring his sixth of the season with assists from Bloodoff and MacAulay.

The X-Men didn't lay down as they reduced the deficit to one with a couple of power-play goals before the end of the first period.

Jarrad Struthers made it 3-1 when his shot from the top of the circle found its way through a good screen by Cole Grbavac to beat Anthony Peters. It was Struthers' 12th goal of the season, tying him with Robert Slaney for the team lead.

At 18:44 of the first, Michael Kirkpatrick closed the gap to one when he scored just eight seconds into a Cory Tanaka cross-checking penalty.

The Huskies came out strong in the second period as they regained a three-goal cushion before the 4:00 mark. Tanaka made it 4-2 when he cleaned up the rebound off a Steven Beyers shot. Shortly after, Bloodoff buried his 10th of the season. At 5-2, Owsley's night was cut short in favour of backup Morgan Clark.

Jason Bast scored a power-play goal early in the third period but goals from Jamie Doornbosch and Brad Greene sealed the deal for the Huskies.

On Friday the X-Men will travel to St. Thomas for a 7 p.m. puck drop and the Huskies will be in PEI for a 7 p.m. start.

Source: Brian Mosher for Saint Mary's Sports Information