(ANTIGONISH, NS) The STFX X-Men closed out Atlantic University Sport regular season play with a 1-0 win over the UNB REDS on Friday night.
With the win, the X-Men claim a first-round bye in the Atlantic University Sport playoffs and push the REDS into third place in the standings.
"It was a disappointing loss tonight," said REDS head coach Barry Morrison. "We put in a strong effort and carried the play, but struggled to break down an organized X defence."
Logan Rieck's (Cambridge, ON) goal in the 43rd minute, the only one of the game, was all the home team needed.
Prior to the game, STFX acknowledged senior graduating student-athletes Josh MacKillop (Sydney, NS), Ziad Abdelrahman (Toronto, ON), Lewis Dye (Fall River, NS), Logan Harrington (Halifax, NS), Carson Ripoll (New Glasgow, NS) and Jack Kennedy (Antigonish, NS).
In an entertaining and fast-paced match, both teams played hard the full 90 minutes.
Both goaltenders came up with huge saves time and again, with each keeper earning player of the game for their respective teams.
UNB keeper Louis-Charles Vaillancourt (Sherbrooke, QC) and his counterpart in the X net, Samuel Diltz (Newmarket, ON) each had eight saves on the night.
Rieck's goal came off a floater pass from Samuel Barrowcliffe (Princeton, ON) as he soft touched the ball into the REDS net late in the first half to give the X-Men the one-goal lead at halftime.
Both squads had their opportunities in the second half. Kyle Cordeiro (Oakville, ON) hit two cross bars for the X-Men and the REDS could have tied the game on a penalty kick in the 51st minute.
Diltz was given a yellow card after he challenged the ball outside his box and REDS striker Luke Rosettani (Kanata, ON) stepped up to the penalty spot, but his low shot was saved by a diving Diltz.
The X-Men played a man down for the final 15 minutes after Max Bodurtha (Halifax, NS) was assessed his second yellow card.
The REDS did all they could to score the equalizer, frantically pressuring in the final minutes of the game and into extra time. Diltz made a couple key saves and time ran out as the X-Men held on for the victory.
Both the X-Men and REDS finish the season with identical 7-3-2 records and 23 points.
"This puts us in a challenging situation heading into the playoffs," said Coach Morrison. "Having to play an extra game is a huge disadvantage in an already extremely competitive league. We'll need to find goals next weekend to carry us in the championship tournament. We have a short turnaround, so the next few days will be very challenging for us."
Standings will be finalized following matches tomorrow, but STFX and UNB have punched their tickets to the Subway AUS Championship tournament, November 2-5 in Sydney.
Cape Breton University will play host to STFX, UNB, Saint Mary's, Moncton and Dalhousie as the top six teams in the conference will battle for the AUS banner.
RECAP BY: Krista McKenna/STFX Athletics
PHOTOS BY: Mya Slawter/for STFX Athletics