Soccer X-Men 1-2 in pre-season action

The X-Men soccer team opened pre-season exhibition play with a trio of games south of the border and came home with one win and a pair of losses.

Saturday afternoon in Durham, New Hampshire, the X-Men dropped a 3-1 decision to the University of New Hampshire, an NCAA Division 1 school. Fourth year veteran striker Michael Marousek scored the lone goal for StFX at the 31st minute mark. The game was closer then the score indicated, with three mental errors resulting in the three opposing goals.

On Monday the X-Men played Bryant University out of Smithfield, Rhode Island and came away with a 2-1 victory. Bryant is another Division 1 school. The X-Men were down 1-0 early in the game but came back with goals from Dylan MacKenzie and Jamar Dixon, both third year midfielders. MacKenzie scored in the 64th minute while Dixon’s came at the 72 minute mark. 

The final game in the United States swing was played on Tuesday in North Andover, Massachusetts against Merrimack College, a competitive Division 2 school. The X-Men played a close came but were on the losing end of a 1-0 game.

Second year X-Men head coach Graham Kennedy was impressed with the play of his X-Men early on in the pre-season and was able to work all X-Men into the action on the playing field at some point throughout the four-day excursion. The X-Men received permission from the AUS executive to travel south of the border for this unique playing experience, and will now rest until Saturday, Aug. 28th when their official training camp begins for the AUS season.

The X-Men will travel to Charlottetown on Sunday, Sept. 5th for an exhibition game against the UPEI Panthers before opening regular season play on Sept. 11-12th at home when they will host Memorial and UPEI.