X-Men play hard in soccer tie, loss

The soccer X-Men sit in the middle of the pack in the AUS conference, tied for fifth place with 7 points and a 2-2-1 record after a weekend tie with Moncton and a 1-0 loss to UNB at home at Oland Stadium.

A pair of quick Moncton goals left the X-Men scrambling to get back into the game, but they managed to secure a 2-2 tie Saturday afternoon at Oland Stadium against the visiting Aigles Bleus.

Patrick Gautreau opened the scoring in the game 31 minutes in for the Aigles Bleus after a communication breakdown between the StFX defense and netminder Andrew MacDonald allowed Gautreau’s ball to trickle into the X net.

Moncton teammate Olivier Babineau quickly took advantage of the StFX back line again and fired the ball past MacDonald less then a minute after Gautreau’s goal. Down two goals early in the first half, the X-Men fought to get back into the game and had numerous scoring chances.

Max Maund almost scored in the final minute of the opening half, his ball narrowly missing the Moncton goal on a cross out in front of the net.

Jesse Burgins shot just wide of the net on a 3-on-1 play to open up the second half, but continued to be in on scoring chances for the X-Men throughout the second frame.

Paul Oppenheim assisted on the X-Men’s first goal at the 60 minute mark, passing across to freshman Kareem Henry who did not mistake as he beat Aigles Bleus netminder xxx.

Henry also had a breakaway chance shortly after but was denied by xx. Henry, Burgins and Michael Marousek kept up the front line pressure on the Moncton netminder as the blue and white pressured for the tying goal on several good scoring opportunities.

The tying mark finally came in the 89th minute, as the X-Men created pressure in front of the net and Michael Marousek banged the ball home. Time ran out on the X-Men and they had to settle for the 2-2 tie with the Aigles Bleus.

“We played a very inspiring second half that was a character test for us,” commented X-Men head coach Graham Kennedy.

“We passed the test and scored two great goals after being down on two mistakes. Kareem Henry on a great pass from Paul Oppenheim in the 60th minute and Mike Marousek in the 89th minute topped off a great second half.”

Patrick Gautreau earned Player of the Game honors for Moncton while StFX forward Paul Oppenheim was awarded Player of the Game for StFX for his solid play in the game.

On Sunday afternoon, the X-Men were faced with a strong UNB defensive team and could not put the ball past Varsity Reds netminder Matt Lally as they suffered a close 1-0 loss.

The X-Men played a strong first half and had a few good scoring chances on Lally but a UNB goal by Ben Law late in the opening frame in the 43rd minute was the only one that mattered. Law knocked in a dislodged ball from StFX goalkeeper Andrew MacDonald after a Varsity Reds corner kick.

The play was back and forth to open the second half then the X-Men began pressuring for the equalizer in the UNB end. Varsity Reds captain Galen Smith left the game after his second yellow card so the X-Men were up an attacker.

StFX had the best chance late in the game when Matt Lally got his hand on a Michael Marousek header and knocked the ball just over the cross bar. The X-Men continued to pressure late in the game and into the extra minutes but ran out of time and were faced with their second loss of the season.

Defender Max Maund was named Player of the Game for StFX while Ken Morrison earned Subway Player of the Game honors for the Varsity Reds.

Upcoming on the AUS schedule for the X-Men (2-2-1) is a game Friday afternoon in Cape Breton against the second place Capers (3-2-1), followed by a Sunday showdown with the fourth place Dalhousie Tigers (3-0-1).