Aigles Bleus edge X-Men 2–1 in tight matchup

MONCTON, N.B. – The Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus held off the StFX X-Men for a 2–1 victory Saturday night at the J.-Louis Lévesque Arena, in a tight, defensive AUS contest.

STFX came out flying early, opening the scoring just 44 seconds into the game when Charlie Callaghan buried a setup from Ryan McGuire to make it 1–0.

The Aigles Bleus answered late in the first period, however, as Thomas Pelletier finished off a feed from Simon Maltais and Olivier Luc Haché at 16:18 to tie the game heading into intermission.

The decisive goal came midway through the second frame when William Basque capitalized on a setup from Charles Côté and Haché, giving Moncton a 2–1 advantage they would not relinquish.

Both teams traded chances in the third, but the goaltenders stole the spotlight. Moncton's Nathan Darveau turned aside 27 of 28 shots for the win and was named the game's first star. At the other end, Patrick Leaver was sharp for STFX, stopping 25 of 27 shots in the loss and earning third-star honours. Moncton's Hache was the second star.

Special teams were quiet on the night, with neither side converting on the power play—StFX went 0-for-4, while Moncton finished 0-for-3.

The victory improves Moncton's record to 6–2–0, while StFX drops to 3–4–0 on the season.

The X-Men return home next weekend to host the UNB REDS on Friday night, October 31st in a 7:00 pm at the Keating Centre.

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