X-Men Open MenÕs Hockey Playoffs With Win Over SMU

Courtesy Brian Freeman, The Chronicle Herald

The St. Francis Xavier X-Men have gotten the early jump on the Saint Mary’s Huskies in their Atlantic University Hockey Conference semifinal.

Jason Bast scored a pair of goals Friday night in Antigonish as the X-Men shaded the defending national champions 5-3 in the opener of their best-of-five AUS series.

Phil Mangan, Bryce Swan and Chris Hulit also found the mark for the X-Men, who finished in third place in the regular season, two points behind the runner-up Huskies.

David MacDonald, Justin Munden and Mike Danton scored for SMU.

The hosts held leads of 3-0 and 4-1 before Munden and Danton tallied five minutes apart in the third period to draw the Huskies to within one.

Bast’s second of the night, into an empty net with 53 seconds remaining, sealed the deal for St. F.X.

Joseph Perricone made 22 saves between the pipes for the X-Men while Neil Conway stopped 19 shots in the Saint Mary’s net.

Game 2 is Sunday at 7 p.m. at Alumni Arena.