Antigonish, NS - The StFX X-Men maintained their position of second place in the AUS conference with a 4-0 shutout victory over the visiting Mount Allison Mounties on a chilly Saturday afternoon.

StFX controlled proceedings from the beginning of the game and came after the Mounties down the flanks, via route one, and by means of excellent set piece plays. StFX's first goal was the culmination of skillful open field play with a number of X-Men having soft touches on the ball and taking and receiving give and go passes. 

Tane Cabo (London, UK) opened the scoring when he took a lovely pass by Natneal Teacle (Calgary, AB) with a great touch, rushed into the 18-yard box and fired an impossible to save shot past Michael Cormier (Margaree Valley, NS) after 21 minutes. 

StFX's second goal of the opening half came as a result of the referee's decision to award a penalty kick against the Mounties when Dylan Lawrence, who was making a driving run toward the net, was fouled inside the box. Up stepped the AUS leading goal scorer, Dan Hayfield (Exeter, UK), who promptly deposited the ball into the back of the net.

Early on in the second half, a Hayfield free-kick from about 30 yards out connected with the head of defender Liam Harrigan (Bangor, ME) and the lead was extended to three goals.

The second half continued much the same as the first, despite superb efforts by Patrick Henessy (Moncton, NB) and Jaryd Morrissey (Sackville, NB) to stem the tide of the StFX attack. Cormier was strong in goal for the visitors and kept the score respectable between the two teams. Perhaps his best save of the afternoon was a fingertip clearance just a few minutes after X's third goal. 

StFX added one more goal to their afternoon tally in the 67th minute after another Mountie infraction inside their own box. Once again it was Hayfield to the spot and the strike was a mere formality.

Much of StFX's good play down the wings was due to the skill and ability of rookie StFX midfielder Nick Aquino (Dartmouth, NS) in the middle of the field. For his efforts he was awarded the Subway Player of the Game honors.

StFX (7-1-2) play their final home game of the season against Dalhousie tomorrow afternoon. Game time is 3:15 pm at StFX Oland Stadium.

Mount Allison (0-10-0) travel to CBU tomorrow afternoon.

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Courtesy Bart Sears, StFX Athletics Communciations