Bell Canada Varsity Cup Day 3: Toronto 4 StFX 2 
Mike Aylward - thunderwolveshockey.com - Sunday, December 29, 2002 
 
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
At the end of round-robin play, Calgary stands undefeated with the remaining three teams Lakehead, Toronto, StFX tied at two losses and one win each. Based on goal differentiation, Lakehead wins the chance to challenge Calgary in the final for the championship of the Bell Varsity Cup tomorrow at 2pm.