Five-goal period by X-Men stings Panthers in 6-3 loss

By Reegan MacAulay

Despite a strong start with two goals within the first eight minutes, the UPEI Panthers men's hockey team (10-12-1-2) was quickly stung by five goals within about 10 minutes from the St. Francis Xavier University X-Men (13-12-1-0), who held on for a 6-3 win at the MacLauchlan Arena on Friday, Jan. 26.

It was UPEI's fourth loss to StFX this season, with the season series now at 1-4 for the Panthers. 

Head coach Forbes MacPherson said the team played well in the first period despite StFX's sudden five-goal spurt. 

"It was a tough loss, but I thought we were ready to go. The elephant in the room, it wasn't Joe Ranger's night. But I liked the way we battled. We played hard the whole game," MacPherson said. 

Rookie goaltender Joe Ranger started the game but was pulled after StFX's fifth goal at 17:49 and replaced by veteran Jonah Capriotti.

Rookie defenceman David D'Agostino returned to Atlantic University Sport action for the first time since October after a long rehab from injury, recording a +1 and one shot-on-goal. The former York Lions player said it felt pretty good getting back on the ice. 

"It's been a long haul. Tonight, we took it slow to ease me into it. It was worth the wait. I thought I played well, I tried to keep it simple. First game back, I didn't want to do anything too crazy. As for the team, we started out strong, but we had early penalty trouble. The boys hung in there and we're ready to get back at it tomorrow night (Jan. 27)," D'Agostino said.

Coach MacPherson said it was nice to see D'Agostino get back to playing.

"He had been out for an extended period of time. He's been very patient, committed, and doing everything he needs to do to get back in the lineup," MacPherson said. 

Freshman forward Elias Cohen got the scoring underway for UPEI with a snipe of a goal at 3:21 thanks to a nice set-up by veteran forward Kaleb Pearson. Pearson wasn't done yet with his playmaking abilities as he found rookie forward Cade Kowalski alone in the high slot with a pass from the blue line, and Kowalski deked out StFX goaltender Joseph Raaymakers to extend UPEI's lead to two at 7:40.

From there, the X-Men exploded with five goals between 8:10 and 17:49, all even-strength goals scored by Zack Trott, Clark Webster, Declan Smith, and the top AUS points leader Matthew Struthers (2). Smith added his second goal of the game at 9:07 in the second period assisted by Struthers, who concluded the game with two goals and two assists, extending his point streak to 24 games. UPEI would get on the board one more time as rookie forward Patrick LeBlanc fired a shot under the blocker of Raaymakers at 5:17, recording his second goal of the season.

The final shots were 34-26 in favour of the Panthers. Joe Ranger denied seven of 12 shots before being replaced by Jonah Capriotti, who denied 13 of 14 shots. Joseph Raaymakers denied 31 of UPEI's 34 shots. UPEI went 0-for-7 on the power play and StFX went 0-for-5. In total, there were a combined 62 penalty minutes, including 10-minute misconducts for rookie forward Noah Sedore, veteran defenseman Kurtis Henry, and StFX defenseman Brandon Clavelle. Ben McFarlane was awarded UPEI Player of the Game and Matthew Struthers was awarded StFX Player of the Game. 

The Panthers remain stuck in fifth place in the standings with 23 points while the X-Men are now tied with the Saint Mary's Huskies (13-11-1-0) for third place with 27 points.

UPEI returns to action tomorrow night on Saturday, Jan. 27, as the last-place Dalhousie Tigers (6-17-2-0) visit the MacLauchlan Arena, who seek revenge after losing 7-2 to UPEI at the Halifax Forum on Friday, Jan. 12. Saturday's game will be part of Men's Hockey Alumni Night.

MacPherson calls it the biggest night of the season.

"It's the night we circle on our calendar every year when the schedule comes out. The new guys will get a real appreciation for the support this program has and how loyal and committed our alumni are. It's a fun night to be a Panther and they'll get first-hand experience," MacPherson said.

Game time is at 7 p.m. Buy single game tickets at panthertickets.ca.

Photo Credit: Janessa Vanden Broek