Early lead paces Moncton to 4-1 win over X-Men
Fast start and strong goaltending carry Aigles Bleus to 4–1 victory over X-Men
MONCTON, NB — A fast start and a strong goaltending tandem carried the Moncton Aigles Bleus to a 4–1 victory over the STFX X-Men on Saturday night.
With the win, Moncton improves to 9-4-1 on the season, while the X-Men drop to 6-7-1.
A first-period surge set the tone as Moncton struck early and often, building a 3–0 lead before the first intermission. Jeremie Jacob opened the scoring just 3:21 in, beating Patrick Leaver unassisted.
The Aigles Bleus doubled the lead on the power play at 12:08, when Mika Cyr buried a feed from Denis Toner, with Jeremy Lapointe adding the secondary assist.
Just 26 seconds later, Jacob struck again - his second of the night - finishing off a passing sequence from Alexis Arsenault and Olivier Luc Hache.
The X-Men pushed back in the second period. At 4:23, Antonino Pugliese cut into the deficit depoiting the puck off a feed from Raegan Wiles, with Cameron Mercer also drawing an assist.
The X-Men generated momentum, outshooting Moncton 6–5 in the period, but could not solve Olivier Adam again before the goaltending switch midway through the frame.
Penalties piled up for both teams in a choppy second period, but neither side capitalized on the man advantage. STFX finished the night 0-for-5 on the power play.
Adam was sharp for Moncton, making 15 saves on 16 shots before giving way to Nathan Darveau, who stopped all seven shots he faced. The tandem combined for 22 saves on 23 shots.
STFX's Leaver battled through heavy traffic, coming up with 10 third period saves before being pulled for the extra attacker late.
With X pressing and the net empty, Jeremy D'Astous scored an empty netter with 1:25 left to play to close out the 4–1 victory.
Moncton's Jeremie Jacob was named first star and player of the game for his two-goal performance. Mika Cyr was the second star and Olivier Adam was third star.
Final shots in the game favored the X-Men at 23-21.
The X-Men will be back in action on home ice Friday, November 21st when they host the Saint Mary's Huskies. Game time is 7:00 pm at the STFX Keating Centre.
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