Soccer X-Men impressive in pre-season action

The X-Men soccer team faired very well at the Sherbrooke Invitational tournament in pre-season exhibition action this past weekend, coming home with a 2-0-1 record. StFX defeated played to a 2-2 tie with the host Sherbrooke squad, followed by wins over McGill (2-1) and Ottawa (3-2).

In Friday evening’s game against Sherbrooke, the X-Men had a strong start against a very athletic team, posting a 2-1 half time lead. Second year striker Randy Ribeiro scored the first X-Men goal on a penalty kick in the 15th minute, with freshman Jordan Roberts picking up the second X marker in the 25th minute. Sherbrooke tied the game in the second half. Head coach Graham Kennedy commented, “We played everyone who was healthy – getting playing time for 20 players in that first game.”

Saturday morning the X-Men faced a strong McGill squad and came away with the 2-1 victory. Ribeiro scored again on a penalty kick in the first half (18) with McGill tying the game early in the second half. Veteran defender Ryan Casey scored the game winner off a great cross from Mark Harpur in the 87th minute to earn the win.

“The McGill game was an important game for us because it shows us that we can compete with top programs in the nation,” commented Kennedy. “McGill have an excellent program and traditionally contend for the RSEQ championship.”

“We had periods of the game, particularly in the first half where we controlled the game, and in the second half we were able to successfully defend for long periods against sustained attacks, so I was very pleased. We were under pressure in the second half and got rewarded with a momentum change in the final 10 minutes that lead to the winning goal.”

The X-Men wrapped up the weekend with a 3-2 comeback victory over Ottawa on Sunday. Kennedy says, “We were down 2-0 at the ten minute mark and were chasing the game. We responded well in the second half and managed to keep up a sustained attack that eventually produced three goals to give us a great come from behind win.”

Ribeiro scored twice in the game. He netted StFX”s first goal in the 74th minute, while Ryan Ashlee followed up with the game-tying goal in the 80th minute. Ribeiro capped off his four-goal weekend with the game-winning strike in the 86th minute.

Earlier in the week, an expanded StFX squad played an exhibition game against the Acadia Axemen on home turf. The Axemen came away with a 3-0 win although Coach Kennedy commented, “We used this pre-season game as an opportunity to make some final decisions on the roster we would carry forward for the rest of the pre-season games. Five players were released following the match which left us with 26 in total.”

Zach Shaffelburg scored all three goals for the Axemen.

With the pre-season schedule complete, the X-Men will now focus their attention on their AUS regular season opening match coming up this Friday night in Halifax against the Dalhousie Tigers. Kick-off is 7:15 pm at the Tigers Wickwire field. StFX and Dalhousie will open the season with home and away games as the Tigers then travel to Antigonish on Friday, Sept. 14th to take on the X-Men in their home opener. Game time is 7:15 pm at StFX Oland Stadium.