X-Men lose close 2-1 game to Moncton

The StFX X-Men lost a tightly contested 2-1 game to the CIS No. 4 Universite de Moncton Aigles Bleus Friday night at the Keating Centre in Antigonish, NS.  It was a battle of the two net minders, as both of Moncton’s Pierre-Alexandre Marion and StFX’s Joey Perricone played strong games between the pipes. 

The X-Men opened up the game with several quality scoring chances but Marion stood his ground. StFX also played well on the penalty kill, fighting off three Moncton power plays in the first period.  Both teams were unable to give up an inch in the first, as the two squads were waiting for their opponent to make a mistake.  After a tight checking affair in the first, the score remained 0-0 with the shots 12-7 in favor of the X-Men.

As what seems to be a reoccurring theme for the X-Men this season, they came out flat in the second period.  Moncton was able to draw more penalties and eventually the pressure got to StFX as Aigles Bleus defenseman Samuel Groulx sniped a goal short side past Perricone at the 9:40 mark. Alex Quesnel and Dean Ouellet picked up assists on the power play marker. Moncton continued to play strong hockey for the rest of the period, but were unable to solve Perricone the remaining 11 minutes in the second frame. The score remained 1-0 after two periods of play.

The third frame started out slow, as Moncton utilized the neutral zone trap, causing problems for the StFX offense. While on the power play Aigles Bleus Francis Rochon was able to find the back of the net at the 12:10 mark with assists coming from Simon Lacroix and Quesnal. Kevin Undershute got the X-Men back into the game when he banged home a loose puck in front of Marion at the 16:09 mark off an individual rush from R.D. Chisholm. StFX’s Josh Day also had an assist on the play. With just 3:51 remaining in the period the X-Men tried to pressure the Aigles Bleus and find the tying goal. Head coach Brad Peddle pulled StFX netminder Joey Perricone with just over a minute to play for the extra attacker, but Moncton held their ground and hung on for the 2-1 victory.

The X-Men outshot the Aigles Bleus by a slight 28-26 margin. Marion turned aside 27 shots for Moncton for the win, while Perricone stopped 24 shots in the StFX net in the losing effort.  Alex Quesnal was named Subway Player of the Game, recording two assists.

With the loss the sixth place StFX X-Men (6-13-3) remain one point ahead of Dalhousie (3-15-4) in the standings for the final AUS playoff spot. The Tigers dropped a 4-2 game to the UPEI Panthers. Moncton improves to 16-6-0 and sit in a tie for first place with UNB (15-5-2) with 32 points apiece. They travel to Halifax tomorrow night to take on fourth place Saint Mary’s (14-7-2), while the X-Men will host the eighth place St. Thomas Tommies (3-15-4) Saturday night in Antigonish.