FREDERICTON (U SPORTS) – Six second period goals by the University of Saskatchewan Huskies sealed an 8-0 win over the St. Francis Xavier X-men in a 2017 Cavendish Farms University Cup semifinal game Saturday at the Aitken Centre in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
Saskatchewan will now face the host UNB Varsity Reds in the final Sunday at 1 p.m. (Atlantic) on Sportsnet 360. It is Saskatchewan's first trip to the championship final since 2014.
Levi Cable, Carson Stadnyk, Logan McVeigh, Parker Thomas, Wyatt Johnson and Connor Cox each tallied in the middle frame of the win. Jesse Forsberg and McVeigh added first and third period goals.
University Cup website: www.universitycup.ca
The onslaught began in the second with a goal by Levi Cable at 1:54. Carson Stadnyk would add to the lead at 4:29 , followed by Logan McVeigh at 10:17. Parker Thomas (Winnipeg, Man.) added another at 12:32, forcing the X-Men to pull starting goalie Chase Marchand, for Brandon Hope.
Still in the second, the Huskies addeda sixth tally , when Wyatt Johnson scored at 18:38, before Connor Cox's buzzer-beater with just three seconds left.
McVeigh would add his second of the game and eighth for the Huskies at 4:50 of the third.
Shots were 30-26 in favour of the Huskies.
Huskies goalie Jordon Cooke recorded his second straight shutout after blanking the York Lions 1-0 in overtime in the quarter-finals on Friday night.
"When you have guys laying down, blocking shots, that makes my job so much easier," said Cooke, who was named the U SPORTS Goaltender of the Year at a ceremony Wednesday night.
X-Men head coach Brad Peddle was succinct in his explanation of the outcome.
"Bizarre," he said. "It's a tough one to explain. First period, we are pretty even. In the second period, they capitalized on every chance we gave them. They brought tight checking and everything they threw at the net seemed to go in."
Saskatchewan coach Dave Adolph said he did not expect such a dominant performance.
"We matched their intensity in the first, but did a lot of the right things in the second, like getting guys in the right spot, to make things click for us," he said.
StFX was 0 for 5 on the power play, while Saskatchewan went 2 for 6.
The Huskies will now play the host UNB Varsity Reds for gold at 1:00 p.m. AT Sunday, while StFX plays Acadia at 9:30 a.m. AT for bronze.
Adolph, named U SPORTS Coach of the Year, said it's fitting that the teams that occupied the top two spots in the U SPORTS rankings most of the year will now meet for all the marbles.
SCORING SUMMARY
Official Boxscore: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mice/2017/boxscores_champ/20170318_l589.xml
First Period
SSK Jesse Forsberg (1) (Connor Gay, Wyatt Johnson) 04:29
Penalties
Lawrence (SSK) cross-checking 08:31
MacDonald (STFX) tripping 12:04
Second Period
SSK Levi Cable (2) (Kohl Bauml) 01:54
SSK Carson Stadnyk (1) (Jordan Fransoo, Levi Cable) 04:29
SSK Logan McVeigh (1) (Colby Harmsworth, Parker Thomas) 10:17
SSK Parker Thomas (1) (Andrew Johnson, John Lawrence) 18:38
SSK Connor Cox (1) (Carson Stadnyk) 19:57 PP
Penalties
Stadnyk (SSK) roughing 08:05
Iafrate (STFX) roughing 08:05
Lawrence (SSK) high sticking 12:35
Needham (STFX) holding 15:11
Cook (STFX) roughing after whistle 19:16
Forsberg (SSK) roughing after whistle 19:16
Kontos (STFX) roughing after whistle 19:16
Yakubowski (SSK) roughing after whistle 19:16
MacDonald (STFX) roughing after whistle 19:16
Third Period
SSK Logan McVeigh (2) (Kendall McFaull, Michael Sofillas) 04:50 PP
Penalties
McFaull (SSK) holding 00:41
Studnicka (STFX) tripping 03:43
Spears (STFX) roughing 10:15
Iafrate (STFX) elbowing major, game misconduct 11:19
Hoyles (STFX) interference 17:50
Lishchynsky (SSK) holding 18:01
Fransoo (SSK) tripping 18:49
McVeigh (SSK) high sticking 18:49
Locke (STFX) high sticking 18:49
McFaull (SSK) high sticking 19:22
GOALS (by period)
SSK 1-6-1: 8
STFX: 0-0-0: 0
SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)
SSK 8-12-10: 30
STFX 7-9-10: 26
POWER PLAY:
SSK 2-6
STFX 0-5
GOALTENDERS
SSK – Jordon Cooke (W, 2-0, 26 shots, 26 saves, 0 GA, 60:00)
STFX – Chase Marchand (L, 1-1, 16 shots, 11 saves, 5 GA, 32:32)
Brandon Hope (-, 0-0, 14 shots, 11 saves, 3 GA, 27:28)
ATTENDANCE: 2,774
Start: 4:13 pm
End: 6:45 pm
Length: 2:32
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All Times AT)
Thursday, March 16, 2017
1:00pm Quarter-final 1: No. 1 Alberta 1, No. 8 Acadia 4 (USPORTS.LIVE)
8:00pm Quarter-final 2: No. 4 Queen's 1 vs. No. 5 UNB 5 (USPORTS.LIVE)
Friday, March 17, 2017
1:00pm Quarter-final 3: No. 3 York 0, No. 6 SSKkatchewan 1 (OT) (USPORTS.LIVE)
7:00pm Quarter-final 4: No. 2 StFX vs. No. 7 McGill (USPORTS.LIVE)
Saturday, March 18, 2017
12:00PM Semi-final 1: Acadia 0, UNB 3 (Sportsnet 360 / SN NOW)
4:00PM Semi-final 2: STFX 0, Saskatchewan 8 (Sportsnet 360 / SN NOW)
Sunday, March 19, 2017
9:30AM Bronze: STFX vs. Acadia (USPORTS.LIVE)
1:00PM Gold: UNB vs. Saskatchewan (Sportsnet 360 / SN NOW)