Tigers upset U SPORTS No. 1 X-Men 7-3

Source: Kiana Pace, StFX Sports Information 

Antigonish, NS – The visiting Dalhousie Tigers (9-18-1) extended their winning streak to five games with a 7-3 upset over the U SPORTS No. 1 ranked StFX X-Men (21-2-4) Friday evening at the Charles V. Keating Centre. Seven different Tigers found the back of the X-Men net.  

Despite a strong start that saw the X-Men jump out to a 2-0 lead after the first period, the Tigers stormed back with three second period goals, then scored a flurry in the opening seven minutes of the final period to take the lopsided win and snap the X-Men's four-game win streak.  

The opening 20 minutes of play saw an X-Men goal 44 seconds into the game following a failed Tigers clearing attempt. Michael Clarke (London, ON) intercepted the puck then took a shot on goal that was stopped by Dalhousie goaltender Corbin Boes (Saskatoon, SK). Clarke then capitalized on the rebound.  

StFX doubled their lead at 7:58 at the end of a power play. X-Men defence Jagger Dirk (Penticton, BC) used quick reflexes to keep the puck in the Tigers zone allowing Craig Duininck (St. Cloud, MN) to fire a wrist shot past Boes from the blue line.   

Shots in the period favoured StFX at 14-9.  

The second period saw a turn in the game with Dalhousie taking the lead after scoring three unanswered goals in under 15 minutes. 

Mike Evelyn (Ottawa, ON) scored on a rebound off a Zachary Taylor (Dartmouth, NS) shot from the point. Colton Heffley (Swift Current, SK) also assisted on the goal that came only 32 seconds into the second frame.   

Jonathan Cyr (Ottawa, ON) was the next Tiger to find the back of the next, catching X-Men netminder Chase Marchand (Halifax, NS) out of position. Myles McGurty (Hoboken, NJ) was credited with the assist on Cyr's wrister goal into the open X net.  

The final goal of the second period that saw the Tigers outshot the league-leading X-Men 12-4 came at 14:51. Cyr made a cross-ice alley-oop pass to Kelly Bent (Halifax, NS) who went top corner on Marchand, bringing the score to 3-2 in favour of the Tigers after 40 minutes.  

A wild third period brought five goals and 40 penalty minutes between the two teams. Just under two minutes into play Cyr dumped the puck into the X-Men zone and McGurty took a shot on goal which was saved by Marchand. Jackson Playfair (Fort St. James, BC) took hold of the rebound and scored five-hole.  

Seventy-one seconds later X-Men forward Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, NS) scored for the X-Men, bringing the game to 4-3. The Tigers quickly squashed any X-Men comeback, however, as they scored another three markers. 

Defenceman Evan Scott (Montreal, QC) scored less than a minute after Tremaine's goal, followed by  

goals off the sticks of Alex Pawelczyk (Sterling Heights, MI) and Jesse Lussier (Petawawa, ON) who tallied shorthanded on a 2-on-1 with Playfair.  

Lussier's goal came at the 7:07 mark of the third period and was followed by tussles on the ice that resulted in five X-Men and four Tigers being sent to the sin bin. The nine penalties including two ten-minute unsportsmanlike conducts. The X-Men also swapped out Marchand for Brandon Hope (Canton, MI) in goal.  

The remainder of the third period was played without incident or scoring as the Tigers outshot the home squad 33-27 to take the win.  

Dalhousie's Kelly Bent was named the game's first star and Subway Player of the Game honours, Jonathan Cyr was the second star and Jackson Playfair earned third star. Boes posted his ninth win of the season with 24 saves.  

StFX will look to regroup tomorrow as they play in their final regular season home game against the Université de Moncton in a 7:00 pm face-off at the Keating Centre. Dalhousie is next in action on Friday, Feb. 9th when they visit UPEI, also at 7:00 pm.