X-Men comeback to defeat Huskies 5-4 in overtime

HALIFAX, NS – STFX forward Raegan Wiles scored the overtime winner, as the X-Men erased a 4-2 third period deficit to come back and defeat the Saint Mary's Huskies 5-4 in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action on Saturday night at the Dauphinee Centre.

The Huskies opened the scoring just 20 seconds into the first period, as forward Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON) took a pass from linemate Matthew MacDonald (Halifax, NS) and stuffed it past X-Men goaltender Patrick Leaver (Perth, ON) to give Saint Mary's an early 1-0 lead.

But the X-Men responded just over six minutes later as forward Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) dangled through the defence and dropped a pass to linemate Alex Christopoulos (Richmond Hill, ON) who beat Huskies netminder Ben West (Barrie, ON) to tie the game at 1-1.

The X-Men took the lead midway through the period, with forward Cole Stewart (Moncton, NB) firing a high shot that beat West to give the visitors a 2-1 lead, 11:21 into the first period.

Saint Mary's responded with back-to-back goals from their captain Declan McDonnell (Buffalo, NY). First McDonnell took a pass from linemate Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS) and skated out wide, faking Patrick Leaver into expecting a cross-ice pass before taking a shot from a sharp angle that snuck in high to tie the game at 2-2.

Just over a minute later, McDonnell struck again, banging in the rebound of a shot from defenceman Dennis Busby (Oro-Medonte, ON) to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead, 15:49 into the first period.

The X-Men outshot the Huskies 16-11 through the opening 20 minutes, but Saint Mary's took a 3-2 lead into intermission.

The second period saw McDonnell complete his natural hat-trick, with a powerplay goal 13:47 into the period. After a scramble in front of goal, McDonnell deflected another Busby point shot past Leaver to extend the lead to 4-2.

Saint Mary's outshot the X-Men 13-12 in the second period, and took a 4-2 lead into second intermission.

But the X-Men had a comeback left in the tank, with Cole Stewart scoring his second goal of the night on the powerplay, cutting the lead to 4-3, 6:31 into the third period.

Less than a minute later, X-Men forward Ryan Struthers (Milton, ON) tied it up as defenceman Simon Motew (Highland Park, IL) played a cross-ice pass to Struthers as the Huskies were on a line-change, and Struthers rifled a wrist shot past Ben West to tie the score at 4-4, 7:27 into the third period.

Neither team was able to score a go-ahead goal over the final 12 minutes of regulation, and the game headed into overtime tied 4-4.

Just over a minute into overtime, the X-Men ended it on a nice three-on-two passing play, as Wiles, Trott and Christopoulos passed it back and forth before Wiles buried a one-timer high to secure the X-Men 5-4 victory.

X-Men forward Cole Stewart was named Player of the Game with two goals.

The X-Men outshot the Huskies 44-39 on the night, with Patrick Leaver turning away 35 shots for the win, while Ben West stopped 39 shots in defeat.

The X-Men win improved their record to 8-6-1-1 on the season. They'll be back on home-ice on Wednesday, Nov. 27 as they host the Dalhousie Tigers (3-13-0-0) at 7 p.m. in Antigonish.

The overtime loss drops the Huskies record to 8-5-2-0 on the campaign. Saint Mary's will be on the road next week, visiting the Moncton Aigles Blues (9-5-2-0) on Wednesday and UNB REDS (14-1-1-0) on Saturday, with both games scheduled to drop the puck at 7 p.m.

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Recap by Allan April / Saint Mary's Huskies Athletics