Kaleb Pearson scores twice as Panthers take down undefeated X-Men 4-3

By Thomas Becker

It may be early, but the UPEI Panthers have passed every test the daunting AUS schedule presented so far, including capturing a 4-3 win against the undefeated St. FX X-Men Friday night. 

Rookie forward Kaleb Pearson showed why he was a coveted prospect in the offseason, as he scored the game-winner midway through the third period and finished with a pair of goals. Teammates TJ Shea and Matt Brassard each scored in the win, while St. FX's Josh Nelson scored twice the other way. 

"It feels amazing," Pearson said after the win. "We're still going to keep working and build off this, but it feels really good getting off to a hot start." 

The evenly matched affair got off to a quick start as Brassard fired the puck off the goalie's glove and off the crossbar just two minutes into the game. After dodging that bullet, the X-Men (3-1-0) made the most out of their first scoring chance as Roddi Sandilands' shot from the point was tipped in front where Nelson put away the tough-angled rebound at 2:42. 

A crafty play by Troy Lajeunesse near the eight-minute mark helped tie the game at one. From centre ice, the veteran forward skated by the lone defender, got the goalie to shift across the crease before his shot bounced off the opposite post to Shea, who put away the easy rebound. 

The Panthers (2-0-1) struck again at 15:13 when Pearson patiently skated through the neutral zone, waited out a pair of defenders and from the slot sniped it past Blade Mann-Dixon to give them a 2-1 advantage. 

However, the X-Men responded with a power play goal just three minutes later when Jacob Hudson found Nelson across the ice where he wired a shot off the crossbar and in.

St. FX looked like they would take the lead while shorthanded four minutes into the second period when Conner Bruggen-Cate forced a turnover and went in alone, but his backhand attempt was stopped by Jonah Capriotti. All was forgiven moments later, as Danil Antropov centred a pass to Brassard, who put away the wrist shot and gave his team a 3-2 advantage. 

St. FX continued to play well with the man advantage and at 14:25 they'd tie it at 3-3, as Matthew Phillip's shot from the top of the left circle was tipped in front by Liam Hawel and in.

After the game, Pearson talked about the team's resilience and never giving in after surrendering a goal.

"Everyone on the team has been through the ups and downs of a game," he said. "We know we have to keep a clear head and go into the next shift battling hard."

That resilience paid off in a big way, as the Panthers took advantage of a four-minute power play midway through the period. After struggling to generate anything for most of the power play, Pearson finally put it away with a wrist shot in the top left corner for the win.

Panthers head coach Forbes MacPherson praised the rookie forward for his performance in the win, but said there's still a lot of untapped potential in the budding star. 

"There's more in the tank with him," MacPherson said. "He's producing and getting things done offensively, but I think we can add more layers to his game." 

UPEI looks to capture their third win in four games when they travel to Halifax to take on the Dalhousie Tigers Saturday night at 7 p.m.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan