X-Men clinch playoff berth with 3-1 win over Huskies

The U SPORTS #10 ranked St. FX X-Men are heading back to the AUS Playoffs after defeating the Saint Mary's Huskies 3-1 on Wednesday night at Huskies Stadium in Halifax.

In the 27^th minute, midfielder Logan Rieck (Cambridge, ON) had back-to-back free kicks. On the second attempt from 30-yards, Rieck floated the ball into the top left corner of the goal to put the visitors up 1-0.

Just over 10 minutes later, the X-Men had another excellent scoring opportunity when Samuel Barrowcliffe (Princeton, ON), broke in on goal and attempted to chip Huskies goalkeeper Jensen Brown (Enfield, NS), who charged out of his box and slid to prevent the shot, but collided with Barrowcliffe and was given a yellow card. On the ensuing free kick, Rieck's shot was saved by a diving Brown, but X-Men forward Cameron Shaw (Ottawa, ON) scored to give the X-Men a 2-0 lead in the 38^th minute.

Just before the whistle blew for the first half, Huskies midfielder Ben Kloppenburg (Halifax, NS) played a great ball to forward Sean Freeman (Halifax, NS), who got tangled up with X-Men defender Anders Good (Moncton, NB). The referee called for a penalty kick and Freeman made no mistake on the penalty kick for his AUS leading 9^th goal of the season.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ⚽️��

Sean Freeman scores his @AUS_SUA leading 9th goal of the season on a penalty kick. pic.twitter.com/agaFc5i2uv

— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) October 20, 2022

The X-Men took a 2-1 lead into the second half. St. FX recorded five first half shots on goal, compared to four for the Huskies.

The Huskies pushed for an equalizer in the second half, but the X-Men controlled possession well, and didn't give up many opportunities. In the 65^th minute the X-Men caught the Huskies out of position and extended their lead, as Rieck weaved through two defenders before playing a ball across box to forward Carson Ripoll (New Glasgow, NS), who finished the play for his second goal of the season.

It was a physical game and a total of seven yellow cards were dished out – X-Men Rieck, Kyle Cordeiro and Logan Harrington, and Huskies Brown, Freeman, Cameron Zinn and bench all received warnings from the official.

Logan Rieck was named Subway Player of the Game with a goal and an assist.

Both Jensen Brown and X-Men goalkeeper Samuel Diltz (Newmarket, ON) recorded four saves on the evening.

The X-Men win improved their record to 6-2-1 on the season, clinching a playoff spot. St.FX will next host the Dalhousie Tigers on Friday night at 7:15 p.m. in Antigonish, N.S.

The Huskies loss dropped their record to 6-3-1 on the campaign. They'll be back on home turf on Friday night as they host the UNB REDS at 7:15 p.m. at Huskies Stadium. The Huskies will honour graduating seniors Jensen Brown (Enfield, NS), Cameron Zinn (Bridgewater, NS), Sumit Malik (Dartmouth, NS) and Cian Tousignant-Osiadhail (Timberlea, NS) before Friday's match.

Recap by Allan April / SMU Huskies Athletics
Photos by Mona Ghiz / SMU Huskies Athletics