Ellis leads Tigers to AUS final

ANTIGONISH, NS - It took overtime but the Dalhousie Tigers defeated the STFX X-Men 2-1 in the second semi-final match of the Bell AUS Championship tournament on Friday evening at STFX Stadium.  

The Tigers advance to take on the top seeded Cape Breton Capers in Sunday's AUS championship final.   

The teams played a tense first 45 minutes with scoring chances, along with a few yellow cards, for both sides.   

STFX had a big chance in the 14th minute, with Logan Reick hitting a great through ball to forward Samuel Barrowcliffe and forcing a diving tackle from DAL goalie Sinclair Astridge, an AUS first team all-star this season.  

After some solid chances, the Tigers struck first in the 26th minute, responding to a close chance for STFX with a quick counterattack capped off with a low strike from Mohammed Wahdan, with the assist going to Woody Bain.   

AUS first team all-star Logan Rieck replied for the host X-Men five minutes later, driving in a penalty kick after Astridge was carded for another tackle on Barrowcliffe.    

The second seeded Tigers pressed early in the second half, and a Wahdan shot forced a diving save from STFX keeper Sam Diltz in the 53rd minute.  

Two minutes later, a controversial red card saw veteran STFX defender and AUS first team all-star Luke Green ejected from the match. 

The X-Men were left to play a man down for the remaining 35 minutes of regulation.  

A long blast from Isaac VanWychen forced a big save from Astridge in the 64th minute but the Tigers put pressure on the tournament hosts late in regulation, with Diltz called to action more than once.  

The X-Men held on defensively, and the first 90 minutes ended with the teams still even.   

Diltz and Astridge saw more work in the first half of overtime, but it was the Tigers who broke through, with AUS first team all-star defender Jack Ellis heading in a free kick from just outside the box from Bain in the first overtime frame.   

STFX looked dangerous in the second overtime, with a free kick from the top of the box, but Astridge was all over the chance by Rieck.  

Tempers flared late in the game, with Damian DeDekker, Max Cameron, and STFX captain Kyle Cordeiro seeing red cards, along with Mohammed Tolba from Dalhousie.   

The final minutes of overtime played out and the Tigers held on for the 2-1 victory. 

Dalhousie's Jack Ellis received the Boston Pizza player of the game honours. 

With the win the Tigers also punched their ticket to the U SPORTS championship November 6-9 in Toronto as the top two teams from the AUS conference receive berths. 

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper / STFX Athletics