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Bell Canada Varsity Cup Day 3: Toronto 4 StFX 2

Sun Dec 29, 2002
Written by Mike Aylward
Photo by James Mirabelli

Toronto came out hard in this game and played a hard skating tenacious style from start to finish. StFX looked a little tired after three games in three days, and couldn't seem to match the Blues energy on the ice. But, the X-Men still had some great scoring opportunities but were stymied by Toronto goalkeeper Jamie Bruno. Toronto was lead by star forward Ian Malcolm who scored two goals and an assist. X-Men defenseman Mike Martone and Troy Smith both played excellent all-around games for StFX, with Smith recording a goal and an assist and Martone notching two assists.

The first period was marked by fast, flowing, two-way hockey. X-Men goaltender Dwayne Bateman robbed Blues forward Frank Pallotta who was parked in front of the net at 1:50. StFX opened the scoring at 4:19 when Troy Smith blasted a hard shot from the left circle past Blues keeper Jamie Bruno, set up nicely by Mike Martone and Dallas Flaman. Toronto's Ian Malcolm tied the score at 8:11, blasting the puck in from the side of the crease, with assists going to Steve Hoar and Mike Nason. Malcolm then dinged the post on a ripping slap shot at 18:29. Bruno was solid in net during a late period StFX powerplay, making 3 good saves to keep the score at 1 apiece.

The second period finally saw some bodychecking, but play was still very fast. The X-Men's Bateman had to make two great saves off Ian Malcolm during a 20 second span early in the period. Mark Hynes gave Toronto a 2-1 lead on the powerplay at 10:01 when his blast from the point trickled through Bateman's legs. Assists went to Ian Malcolm and Scott Johnson. Patrick Grandmaitre evened the score for StFX at 12:03 when he notched a shorthanded goal assisted by Mike Martone and Troy Smith. Toronto's Bruno made a great stabbing pad save to rob Ryan Armstrong at 15:05.

The third period is where Toronto took control, seeming to have the fresher legs at crunch time. They smothered the talented X-Men with tough defense, not allowing them to develop too many dangerous scoring chances. Blues netminder Bruno made another great sliding pad save off StFX's Ryan Armstrong at 5:50 to keep the score tied. The Blues turned it on at this point and were rewarded at 10:17 when Ian Malcolm nailed his second of the game over Bateman's glove, set up by nice passes from Mike Pallota and Nason. The Blues George Trifon made it 4-2 at 11:13 when he intercepted an errant X-Men pass and blasted a shot through Bateman's legs from the left circle. Toronto took 3 minor penalties near the end of the game giving StFX some reason to hope for a comeback. The X-Men pulled their goalie with the two man advantage and played with 6 skaters against the Blues 3. But, Toronto goalie Bruno would not let the puck get by him, stopping 5 shots in the last minute to keep the score at 4-2.

StFX outshot Toronto 37-32 in the game.

The Three Stars, as chosen by Mike Aylward of Thunderwolveshockey.com, were:
1) Ian Malcolm - Toronto
2) Jamie Bruno - Toronto
3) Mike Martone - StFX