WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Despite Acadia's pressure in the X-Men end in the closing minutes of the match, the U SPORTS No. 4 ranked StFX X-Men held on to a 1-0 win to remain on top of the AUS standings with a 6-1-0 record.
Subway Player of the Game Nick Aquino scored early in the match – two minutes into regulation time to give the X-Men an early lead that they would not give up.
With a 13-10 shots StFX advantage, Acadia's keeper Michael O'Flynn was good in saving six of seven shots on goal, while Seamus MacDonald repelled three shots on goal.
In the closing minutes of extra time, Acadia's Oscar Marshall took a corner kick that was headed but blocked. Zane Brennan kicked the loose ball towards the net but was immediately kicked out by a StFX defender. It had appeared as though the ball had crossed the line, but the goal was waved off by the officials, allowing the X-Men to squeak out a 1-0 win.
"I think we just haven't been at our best for a lot of the season and today we upped to the standard that we should be playing at. It's frustrating since we are halfway through the season now and we should have been at this standard from the start, but I guess just looking at it from a positive point of view, at least we are getting to our standard now. I thought we equalized late in this game, but it wasn't given by the ref, so it's tough to take a one-nil loss to our rival X. Honestly, it being against our biggest rival, that kind of kicked us into gear on how we really should be playing," pointed out Acadia Player of the Game Zane Brennan.
The X-Men will travel to Saint Mary's on Thursday evening of this week, while the Axemen will host Dalhousie starting at 7:15 pm this Thursday.