Antigonish, NS – The U SPORTS No. 1 ranked UNB remained undefeated on the season with a close 2-1 overtime victory over the No. 10 ranked STFX X-Men in front of 800 fans Friday night at the Charles V. Keating Centre.
Austen Keating (Guelph, ON) netted the game winning goal 3:36 into the extra frame to give the Reds the win, their fifth of the season.
The teams opened with a fast-paced first period, though were held scoreless. STFX fought off an early UNB power play as the Reds outshot the X-Men 8-7 in the opening frame.
Isaac Nurse (Hamilton, ON) had the best scoring chance for the visitors as he went in alone on a breakaway with seven minutes left in the period, but was stopped by X netminder Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON).
The X-Men nearly got on the board minutes later when Matt Philip (Ilderton, ON) fed Josh Nelson (Lockport, IL) left alone in the slot but his shot was saved by UNB's Rylan Parenteau (Saskatoon, SK).
The second period brought increased physicality as a melee broke out four minutes in. After a potential missed STFX roughing call, tempers flared on the next puck possession, resulting in penalties to both squads and a five-minute power play advantage for UNB.
The Reds were unable to capitalize however, as the X-Men penalty kill units did their job and Raaymakers stood tall in the STFX net.
Parenteau made a nice save on a Matt Struthers (Milton, ON) shot 13 minutes in but left a big rebound that Philip wasn't able to get a stick on.
The Reds broke the goose egg at 16:33 while on the power play when Samuel Dove-McFalls (Montreal, QC) found Brady Gilmour (Grafton, ON) low in the slot and he redirected the puck past Raaymakers.
The lone goal held up as the Reds lead 1-0 after 40 minutes, outshooting the X-Men 9-4 in the second period.
The X-Men pressured for the equalizer in the third period as they outshot the Reds 7-4.
Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) had a couple chances for the X-Men as he along with linemates Liam Hawel (Arnprior, ON) and Struthers were strong on the puck for the home squad.
The STFX efforts paid off with 3:36 left to play when Struthers brought the puck through neutral ice then hit a streaking Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) who dished off to Philip just inside the blue line. Philip split the Reds defenders and whipped a quick shot past Parenteau to knot the game 2-2.
In the overtime frame the teams exchanged scoring chances with open ice in the three-on-three format.
The Reds trio of Keating, Noah Carroll (Strathroy, ON) and Tyler Boland (St. John's, NF) kept the possession in the X zone. Keating circled behind the X net, beating his defender and backhanded a shot towards Raaymakers that squirted through his pads five-hole for the game winner.
Raaymakers finished the game with 21 saves and was named the third star.
X-Men fourth year defenseman Will Thompson (Fredericton, NB) had several blocked shots in the game and played strong defensively for the X-Men, earning him second star honours.
UNB goalie Parenteau with 17 saves was the game's first star and Subway Player of the Game as he picked up his fourth victory between the pipes.
Finals shots were 23-18 in favour of UNB.
The X-Men will be back in action on home ice Saturday night when they host the Moncton Aigles Bleus, while UNB travels to Halifax to take on the Dalhousie Tigers. Puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm.
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Courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Sports Information