The StFX men’s hockey team opens their best-of-five AUS semi-final series against the Saint Mary’s Huskies on the road.
The X-Men (15-12-3) finished the regular season third in the seven-team conference with 33 points, six points back of the second-place Huskies (19-10-1).
StFX beat Acadia 2-1 in their best-of-three quarterfinal series to advance, while Saint Mary’s had a first-round bye; they had a slight 3-2 edge in the season series between the teams.
Brad Peddle, the head coach of the X-Men, tells The Hawk he expects more of the same in the playoffs.
“Every game could have went either way, and that’s kind of how it usually is when these teams play- that’s what we’re expecting, this is going to be a hard-fought series,” he says. “We’re two similar teams in how we play, (so) it’s going to come down to, obviously, execution and goaltending and special teams- it’s going to be a good battle for sure.”
Game time is 7 p.m.
The series remains in Halifax for game two Saturday night; game three is in Antigonish Monday.
The winner advances to the best-of-three AUS final against the winner of the UNB-UPEI series, and earns a spot in the 2019 U Sports national men’s hockey championship in Lethbridge, Alberta.
