Pfeil backstops X-Men to 3-0 shutout win over Tigers

Halifax, NS – Thanks to a 30-save performance from goaltender Lucas Pfeil, the STFX X-Men shut out the Dalhousie Tigers 3-0 in Wednesday night AUS action at the Halifax Forum.

With the win the X-Men improve to 12-7-2 on the season and jump into sole possession of second place in the standings. The victory also clinched the White and Blue an AUS playoff spot.

The Tigers drop to 3-18-0 at the bottom of the standings.

The opening period was scoreless as Dalhousie held a slight 11-10 edge in shots. Pfeil had to be sharp in his net as the Tigers had several good scoring chances early on.

STFX got on the board 4:30 into the second period while on the power play. The puck got onto the stick of Simon Motew at the point and his shot through traffic beat Nicholas Chenard.

The goal held up as the lone marker of the period as the X-Men outshot the Tigers 33-19 through 40 minutes with the 1-0 lead.

The X-Men took a 3-0 lead with a pair of goals early in the third period scored just over a minute apart.

Ethan Burroughs tallied 1:14 into the third as he brought the puck into the Tigers zone and snapped a high shot over the shoulder of Chenard.

Cole Stewart then fed a nice pass to Ben Mercer who made no mistake finding the back of the Dal net.

Pfeil continued his strong play for the remainder of the game, keeping the Tigers scoreless as he picked up his sixth win of the season and second shutout.

Chenard had 46 saves at the other end in the losing effort for the Tigers, who were outshot 49-30 on the night.

Dalhousie is back in action on Friday evening, January 17th when they travel to Charlottetown to take on the UPEI Panthers.

STFX will play the same Panthers squad in PEI on Saturday night. Puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm.

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Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics