(photo by Rob Blanchard)

The champs are in tough against AUS MVP Jacob Kilkpatrick and the Reds at The Pit in Fredericton. The Tigers haven’t been underdogs since Sander Ratsep’s first year and are in serious trouble of having their consecutive championship streak of 24 snapped.

The match up in the middle of 6’8″ Max Bart versus 6’9″ Kilkpatrick will be stellar and could determine the outcome of the series. Game 2 goes in Halifax on sunday.

#6 Cape Breton vs. #3 Dalhousie– Rick Scott’s deep and athletic Tigers should have no problem with a re-building Capers team that only made the playoffs by virtue of hosting.

#4 St Francis Xavier vs #5 Moncton– The teams split their season series… an intriguing match up of the X-Women’s height and les Aigles Bleus athleticism.

Not often you have a conference quarter final featuring two teams that have been in the national rankings. Most AUS pundits are split on this series featuring the high scoring Panthers and the hard working, “steady Eddy” Axemen. Matt Carter leads a gifted UPEI group of forwards against an Acadia team that leads the conference in power play scoring.

Dalhousie (10-8-3) vs. Moncton (14-5-2) – Great match up of Jocelyn Leblanc vs. Marieve Provost. Provost is the CIS all time leading scorer, Leblanc will try to lead the offensively inept Tigers to a pivotal road win as the playoffs approach.

Saint Francis Xavier (20-0) vs. Mount Allison (9-10-1) – The X-Women have become an AUS juggernaut and should have no problem with a hard working Mounties team looking to pull the upset of the year.

Saint Mary’s (8-11-1) vs. UPEI (3-14-4) – The defending champion Huskies had won 5 of 7 after christmas but have come back to earth with a three game losing streak. They’ll have a good chance of getting back on track vs. the last place Panthers who have lost 11 of their last 12 and have been eliminated from playoff contention. With a win and a Mounties loss the Huskies could move to 5th place.