Stunning 3rd period as StFX comes from behind against UNB

ANTIGONISH – Wednesday night the opportunistic StFX X-Men scored five unanswered goals in the last half of the game to battle back against the No.1 ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds and win 6-3, forcing a fifth game in their best-of-five AUS men's hockey championship Friday night in Fredericton. Special teams were the difference in the game, with the No. 4 ranked X-Men going 3-for-4 on the power play while the V-Reds went 0-for-4 and gave up a costly shorthanded goal.

The first period saw UNB come out with a purpose as they tried to put away StFX and avoid Game 5. The first four minutes flew by without a whistle as the V-Reds kept the puck mostly in the X zone, but were unable to get the puck past Joey Perricone (San Juan Capistrano, CA). At one point in the period UNB was outshooting StFX 7-1 and the shots at the end of the period were 11-4 in favour of the V-Reds who had a clear edge in territorial play, but had to continually battle through the strong defensive play of the X-Men.

The second period saw more of the same close checking play that the fans have seen all series. UNB was first on the score sheet at 6:43. V-Reds captain Kyle Bailey (Ponoka, AB) was thrown out of the faceoff circle to the left of Perricone so rookie Nick MacNeil took the draw. He won the draw, and using his long reach and long stick he stick-handled the puck through traffic and past the StFX goaltender. UNB forward Jeff Lee (Calgary, AB) was called for hooking 10 seconds later, and the X-Men power play went to work. Co-captain Chris Hulit (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) banged in a rebound at 7:26 to tie up the game. UNB responded 10 seconds later on the rush when Jordan Clendenning (Fredericton, NB) came down the left side and leaned into a shot that beat Perricone to the top corner with the StFX defence gone missing.

UNB extended their lead at 8:44 when Daine Todd (Stettler, AB) was in tight to the net and just got the puck up and over Perricone's stick. The next seven minutes or so saw UNB looking to be somewhat comfortable in the lead until 14:57 and a questionable penalty call. Just-named AUS Rookie of the Year Jason Bast (Moose Jaw, SK) lost an edge trying to get around defenceman Marc-Antoine Desnoyers (Hippolyte, PQ) at the right circle and went down and the one of the two referees working the game, and on the wrong side of the fall, tagged Desnoyer with a tripping penalty. On the power play R.D. Chisholm (Antigonish, NS) fired a point shot through a screen past Travis Fullerton (Riverview, NB) at 15:49 and the X-Men and the standing-room only crowd were back in the game. StFX showed a lot more confidence and life in the rest of the period. UNB had a good push right at the end and forced Derek Claffey (Red Deer, AB) to take a holding penalty with one second left on the clock. On the ensuing faceoff in the StFX zone Clendenning won the draw and got a hard snap shot on net that forced Perricone to make a pad save just before the buzzer sounded.

The outlook for the third period looked good for UNB. They had a one goal lead and they would have almost two minutes of power play time on clean ice. Then the nightmare started. Just 11 seconds in Fullerton went out to the side of his net to play the puck, and the disc appeared to stick to the ice just as StFX penalty killer Brennan Wray (Moose Jaw, SK) arrived on the scene. He took the puck away from Fullerton and deposited it in the empty net to tie the game. UNB didn't generate much with the man advantage and just five seconds after the power play ended Fullerton went to rim the puck around the glass and it went up into the netting and the UNB goaltender was called for delay of game. StFX generated all sorts of traffic in front of the net and Spencer McAvoy (St. Albert, AB) scored at 2:38 to put the X-Men in the improbable lead.

The Varsity Reds certainly looked a bit off their game after that goal, and the X-Men with the lead could go back to clogging up the middle and waiting for a UNB turnover as the V-Reds pressed to tie the game. That turnover came at 8:24 and Hulit broke down the left side on a 2-on-1 rush with Kevin Undershute (Medicine Hat, AB). Fullerton played the puck carrier and Hulit slid the puck across to Undershute who one-timed the puck into the gaping net. Just 27 seconds later the X-Men were back in front of the UNB net and their defence running around and big power forward Bryce Swan (Alder Point, NS) knocked a rebound past Fullerton. That was the end of the night for the UNB goaltender, coming off a shutout the night before, as Derek Yeomans (St. Albert, AB)  went into the V-Reds net for the first time in the playoffs. The rest of the final period saw UNB continue to drive the StFX net, some chippy play by both teams and frustration by the V-Reds who finished the game on a 5-on-3 penalty kill.

The final score was 6-3 for StFX, despite being outshot 30-25 in the game. The X-Men successfully stave off elimination and force a winner take all game Friday night,7:00 pm at the Aitken University Centre in Fredericton.

The huge momentum swings in the game were best summarized by UNB head coach Gardiner MacDougall who said with a rueful smile, “That's hockey!”