Soccer X-Men close out AUS play

The StFX X-Men soccer team wrapped up the AUS regular season with a 3-2 home win Saturday evening over Acadia at Oland Stadium. They had dropped a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Capers Friday night in Sydney.

Saturday evening, after falling behind 2-0, the blue and white rallied with three second half goals to edge the Acadia Axemen 3-2.

Martin Vlk scored the game-winning tally in the 90th minute off a nice header.

Vlk, a second-year X-Man from the Czech Republic, also tied the match in the 74th minute.

Freshman striker Serge Dossou tallied the other blue-and-white marker, in the 62nd minute.

James Mallard had gotten the Axemen on the board early in the game in the fourth minute.  Zach Shaffelburg added to the lead, scoring in the 33rd minute to give the Axemen the 2-0 halftime edge.

The X-Men were able to come back with the gutsy win and Andrew MacDonald collected the victory in the StFX net with five saves. Eric Ross took the loss for the Axemen with ten saves.

The game marked the final AUS game for MacDonald, who is in his fourth year with the X-Men, as are defenders Josh MacIntyre and Max Maund. Fifth year X-Men Dylan MacKenzie and Ryan Casey also wrap up their careers with the blue and white.

On Friday afternoon, the X-Men dropped a 1-0 decision to the Cape Breton University Capers in Sydney.

Andrew Rigby scored the winning goal in the 87th minute, crushing the X-Men’s chances of earning an AUS playoff berth.
Randy Ribeiro led the X-Men with four shots and MacDonald made five saves for the blue and white in the losing effort. Andrew Murphy earned the win for the Capers with seven saves.

The X-Men finish the 2012 AUS season with a 6-4-3 record in conference play but will not advance to the Subway AUS championship being hosted November 2-4 by the UPEI Panthers in Charlottetown.