X-Men to face-off against Alberta in CIS quarter-finals

Halifax, N.S. - The StFX X-Men will battle the Alberta Golden Bears in quarter-final action Thursday at the CIS University Cup.

Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. at Halifax Scotiabank Centre.

It is a re-match from last year's national tournament, where the eventual champion Golden Bears eliminated the X-Men.

"The focus is just to be us - we are not concerned about last year. We are a different team; they are a different team. We are a very different team," X-Men head coach Brad Peddle said, of his third-ranked squad.

"Our guys from last year will learn from the experience that they had here, but our new guys could, honestly, care less. It has really brought a calmness to our team and a confidence to our team that we just have to go in and play our game.

"We know they are a very good opponent that is going to be a very good team. It will be a heck of a hockey game, but, at the same time, we are going in confident in our game and realize that, if we play the way that we are capable of - the things that we did all year - we will give ourselves a good chance," he added.

The Golden Bears, Canada West conference runners-up, finished the regular season at 19-7-2.

"We are at our best when we are fore-checking hard, and making the other team's defense [work hard]; put pressure on them and cause turnovers," Peddle said, when asked about keys to winning over Alberta.

"That's an area that we are certainly going to try and get at is their defense, and trying to keep them in their end, and force them to play down low. If we are doing that and moving our feet, good things usually happen, so we are just hoping, obviously, that's how it is going to play out."

The X-Men, who won their first AUS title since 2004 with a two-game sweep over the defending conference champion UNB Varsity Reds earlier this month, finished second in league play during the regular season with a 18-6-4 record.

"I think we just have to play the way we have been playing," X-Men goaltender Drew Owsley, a second-team AUS all-star, said of the Golden Bear encounter.

"I think last year - we had those two weeks off and we were a little bit rusty - but this year we are playing our best hockey at the right time, and we just have to keep doing the same things that we did to be successful against SMU and UNB."

As for AUS MVP Eric Locke, a sophomore forward with the blue and white, the key will be continuing to "face the challenge," as they have throughout the season.

"We hadn't won in the Aitken Centre [in Fredericton] in four years, so to take a game there from UNB [in the AUS final series] shows what we can do," he said.

Nathan Chiarlitti, the AUS play-off MVP and second-team regular season all-star, described the 2015 champion Golden Bears as "a strong team."

"Very commited; obviously a proven team, so we just have to play our hockey - X-Men hockey - like we have been over the last 10 games and, hopefully, it will be enough," he said.

For more information about the CIS University Cup, including the tournament schedule, visit www.universitycup.ca

-30-