X-Men nipped by Huskies in OT

Halifax, NS - In AUS men's hockey action, after giving up a two goal lead, the Saint Mary's Huskies (14-7-2) recovered and took the win over the StFX X-Men (11-8-2) by a 4-3 margin in overtime, Wednesday night at the Halifax Forum.

In overtime, the Huskies scored with only 21 seconds left as Nicholas Welsh (Halifax, ON) sent a shot on net and the rebound sat in the crease for Dawson Theede (Brooklin, ON) to put in for the game winner.

The goal came after the X-Men had scored the game winner with 53 seconds left in the third period after pulling goaltender Chase Marchand (Halifax, NS) in favour of the extra attacker.

It was Saint Mary's who got out to an early lead as they opened the scoring at 5:54 of the first period. Theede held the puck against the boards in the corner, where Hunter Garlent (Thorold, ON) picked it up and fired it top shelf from a very sharp angle, nearly along the goal line.

SMU was able to get into the middle of the StFX defence, and get dangerous shots on net for a total of 13 in the first frame, compared to the X-Men's five.

Midway through the period, there was an unpenalized big hit to Conor McGlynn (Oakville, ON) of the Huskies, and following that, the game was very physical.

The Huskies had two power plays late in the period, but no quality scoring chances, and the period ended 1-0 in favour of the home team.

SMU dominated the first half of the second period. They doubled their lead with a power play goal from Anthony Repaci (Toronto, ON) who batted in a bouncing puck at the side of the net. Theede and Garlent had the assists.

The X-Men didn't get a shot on goal until 10 minutes into the period, but they made it count. Captain Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, NS) circled around the net to goalie Eric Brassard's glove side and wired a shot top shelf for the X-Men's first goal of the game.

StFX had some jump after that, getting much more zone time in the Saint Mary's end and several scoring chances. Late in the period, the X-Men scored on the power play to tie the game. Matthew Graham (Bedford, NS) walked off the half wall and beat Brassard high. Adam Holwell (St. John's, NL) and Regan Spears (Port Hood, NS) had the assists.

With the score 2-2 heading into the third period, SMU netted the go-ahead goal at 4:14. Jake Coughler (St. Catharine's, ON) sent a low shot on an innocuous seeming zone entry as Austyn Hardie (Halifax, NS) assisted.

StFX had a power play with eight minutes to go, during which they came close several times to tying it up. Brassard made a sprawling save on Nathan Pancel (Ottawa, ON) left alone in the slot to keep the lead for Saint Mary's.

The X-Men pulled Marchand with just under two minutes to go, and with the man advantage they sent the game to overtime. With 53 seconds to go, there was a shot from the point. Brassard looked for the rebound on his glove side, but it popped out by his blocker and Tremaine tapped it in for his second goal of the game.

With back and forth play throughout the overtime period, it appeared as though the teams were heading to a shootout, but Theede capitalized to give the Huskies the overtime win and send the X-Men home with a single point.

With two assists and the game winning goal, the Subway Player of the Game was indeed Dawson Theede from Saint Mary's. StFX's Mark Tremaine was the second star and Huskies forward Hunter Garlent earned third star recognition.

Next up, Saint Mary's plays host to the Dalhousie Tigers on Friday evening, January 18, while StFX travels to Acadia for a game against the Axemen, also on Friday. Puck drop is at 7pm for both games.

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Courtesy Sarah Moore, SMU Sports Information