The StFX X-Men defended their turf with a pair of weekend wins at Oland Stadium in AUS soccer action.
Sunday, with a strong second-half effort, the blue and white cruised to a convincing 3-0 win over the visiting UPEI Panthers.
"We had a solid weekend," X-Men head coach Graham Kennedy said in a post-game on-field interview with the StFX Varsity Club webcast on Bell AUS TV.
After a "tough start," the fifth-year bench boss said his team turned it around in the second stanza.
"We probably had our best half of the season," Kennedy said.
Ryan Ashlee, a third-year defender, opened the scoring for the X-Men in the first half, heading home a corner kick from Randy Ribeiro.
In the second half, third-year midfielder Michael Tait made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute on a strike from just outside the 18-yard box.
Second-year defender Pieter Heerschop wrapped up the scoring with his first AUS goal, which came in the 88th minute.
Saturday, in their home opener, the X-Men scored their first victory of the regular season with a 1-0 win over the Acadia Axemen.
The match-up with the then first-place Axemen was fast-paced, hard-fought and physical.
Player of the game Mark Harpur, with his first AUS goal, provided the margin of victory for the blue and white.
He said it was "great" to score his first goal in conference play.
Harpur, in a post-game interview with the StFX Varsity Club webcast on Bell AUS TV, said the X-Men wanted to bounce back after a disappointing performance against the defending conference champion UNB Varsity Reds on opening weekend.
"We came to play today," he said.
The X-Men return to action Wednesday, Sept. 18, when they visit Halifax to face the defending conference champion Dalhousie Tigers.
The blue and white are back at Oland Stadium this weekend for a pair of home games versus the Mount Allison Mounties (Saturday, Sept. 21) and Saint Mary's Huskies (Sunday, Sept. 22).
Both matches kick-off at 3:15 p.m.
