By Thomas Becker 

The UPEI Panthers brought the first half of the season to a close on a high note after shutting out the Acadia Axemen 4-0 Saturday night. 

Rookie forward Elias Cohen opened the scoring in the first period, but the Panthers (7-10-1) seized control and asserted their dominance with three goals in the second period to secure the victory. 

Freshman forward Noah Sedore led the way with a goal and two assists, while Cohen and Kaleb Pearson added a goal and an assist each. Veteran defenceman Kurtis Henry also found the back of the net in the win. 

The Panthers jumped to an early lead on a great play from Cohen 36 seconds into the game. As an outlet pass came his way, Cohen spun away from a defender and took the puck up the ice before slinging a wrist shot that beat goaltender Thomas Couture far-side top corner to make it 1-0. 

The score would stay that way until the second period, where the Panthers locked down the win. The home team capitalized on an Axemen (4-11-3) double minor penalty at 7:38 when Henry blasted a one-timer from the right circle on a feed from Cohen. 

Less than two minutes later, Henry found Sedore at the side of the net, where he redirected the pass in the back of the net with his foot. 

UPEI’s leading scorer, Pearson, got in on the fun at 14:57 when the star forward weaved past three defenders before tucking a shot in the top corner to make it 4-0. 

The third period was a bit of a sloppy affair for the Panthers, as they were outshot 13-6 in the frame. But goaltender Joe Ranger picked his team up, earning his second shutout in three starts after a 28-save performance. 

Couture with 39 saves for Acadia

WOLFVILLE – Matthew Welsh (Halifax, NS) won the goaltending duel on Friday night in Wolfville as the Saint Mary’s Huskies defeated the Acadia Axemen 1-0 in a shootout in front of 1,131 fans at Andrew H McCain Arena.  

Welsh made 29 stops in the first four periods, while Logan Couture (Levis, QC) made 39 saves to send the game to a shootout. For their play they were named the game’s first and second stars respectively. Ben Boyd (Dartmouth, NS) was named the third star for the Huskies.  

Saint Mary’s Charlie Dafonseca (Thornhill, ON) opened the shootout with a goal, followed by a miss by Acadia’s Adam McMaster (Beamsville, ON).  

In the second round Brendan Mairs (London, ON) and Declan McDonnell (Buffalo, NY) each missed.  

Bailey Peach (Falmouth, NS) evened the game for the Axemen in the third round after Cedric Ralph (Peterborough, ON) left the door open with a miss for the Huskies. 

Bradey Johnson (Lindsay, ON) scored the game-winning goal in the fourth round before a miss by Ethan Ernst (Weyburn, SK) ended the game.  

Tomorrow night the Axemen travel to Charlottetown to face the Panthers, while the Huskies are now done for the break until Wednesday, Jan. 3 when they host Acadia in Halifax.  

Peach & Burns with the Axemen goals

ANTIGONISH, NS – The STFX X-Men’s penalty kill provided two goals in a 4-2 Friday night win over the Acadia Axemen at the Charles V Keating Centre. This victory marked the X-Men’s third in a row.  

Reigning U SPORTS men’s hockey player of the week Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) opened the scoring midway through the first period, while short-handed. Logan Chisholm (Antigonish, NS) picked off an errand pass at his own blue line before passing off to Hudson, who skated in and roofed one short-side.  

Acadia came close to tying the game early in the middle frame, ringing one off the crossbar. Axemen goalie Zachary Paputsakis (Rockland, ON) made a big save on a Conner Bruggen-Cate (Langley, BC) breakaway in the seventh minute of the second period to keep his team in striking distance. With about four minutes left in the second, Acadia’s Bailey Peach (Falmouth, NS) tied the game with a tap in after getting the puck from Liam Kidney (Enfield, NS) off a bounce behind the STFX net while on the powerplay.  

Shots at the end of the second period were 23-17 in favour of the X-Men.  

A four minute penalty looked to spell trouble for STFX early in the third period, but the penalty kill came up big again, with Declan Smith (Antigonish, NS) burying a one-timer low off a pass from Hudson from behind the Acadia net. Bruggen-Cate made it a two-goal game about three minutes later, getting the last stick to the puck after Matthew Struthers (Milton, ON) fired a shot that squeaked through the pads of Paputsakis.  

The Axemen came to play though, and cut the lead in half three minutes later, with Brady Burns (Port Williams, NS) banking one in from behind the X-Men net. A few minutes later, Paputsakis made a big save to keep the lead at one but got injured on the play and was spelled by Thomas Couture (Levis, QC).  

Acadia pulled their goalie with just over a minute left in the contest, but it was Struthers who sealed the game with an empty net goal for the home team. Connor Roberts (Owen Sound, ON) had the assist.  

Acadia’s Adam McMaster (Beamsville, ON) picked up the third star of the game, while STFX’s Smith earned second star honours. Hudson was named player of the game for the second time in a row following his two-point performance.  

At the final whistle, shots were 35-21 in favour of the STFX. X-Men goalie Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) had 19 saves in the win, while Acadia’s Paputsakis had 30 saves in the loss.  

The Axemen are back on the ice next Friday, when they will host the Saint Mary’s Huskies. The X-Men return to action on Wednesday for another home game against the Moncton Aigles Bleus.  

-30- 

Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics 

Bailey Peach scores a pair in Acadia victory

WOLFVILLE – Bailey Peach (Falmouth, NS) led the way as the Acadia Axemen snapped a four-game losing streak on Wednesday night with a 5-1 win over the Dalhousie Tigers in front of 937 fans at Andrew H. McCain Arena.  

Peach opened the scoring, while Nick Deakin-Poot’s (Georgetown, ON) unassisted goal 10:12 into the first stood as the eventual game-winning goal.  

The second period saw each team find the back of the net as Ethan Ernst (Weyburn, SK) pushed Acadia’s lead to 3-0 before Zak Smith (Austin, MB) earned it back with just 21 seconds remaining in the frame.  

Both third period goals for the Axemen came on the power play, starting with Peach’s second of the night at the 16:57 mark. Just 11 seconds later Zack Jones (North Falmouth, MA) gave Acadia their extra insurance marker.  

Acadia was 2-for-3 on the power play, improving their power play percentage to 19 per cent on the season, while Dalhousie was 0-for-3, sitting at just 12.2 per cent. 

In goal Thomas Couture (Levis, QC) made 26 saves in the victory, while Nicholas Chenard (Tecumseh, ON) made 35 in the loss for the Tigers.  

The victory moved the Axemen out of last place in the AUS, which is where the Tigers now sit heading into their final games of the first half of the season.  

Acadia heads to Antigonish on Friday night to face the STFX X-Men (9-4-1-0), while Dalhousie is home on Friday against the cross-town rival Saint Mary’s Huskies (6-8-0-0). Puck drop for both games is 7 p.m.  

McMaster with the Acadia goal

The Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (8-4-2-0=18pts, 3rd position) wanted to end their losing streak and they responded with two wins, including a 4-1 win over the Acadia University Axemen (3-9-0-2=8pts, 7th position) on Saturday in front of more than 670 spectators at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena on the Moncton campus in an Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey game. 

Jacob Dion (Nathaël Roy, Edouard St-Laurent) gave the home team a 1-0 lead with a goal at 15:03 of the first period when he deftly beat opposing goaltender Thomas Couture by sending the puck between his legs diagonally in front of him on a 4-on-4 play. Moncton led 19-9 in shots on goal.  

Edouard St-Laurent, with the winner on the power play on a hard shot at 8:39 and Alex Arsenault with his 2nd of the season at 13:07 of the second period made it 3-0 in favour of the home team.  

Nathaël Roy on a shot from the front of the net high into the right side at 6:24 of the third gave the Aigles Bleus a 4-0 lead. Adam McMaster on the power play saved his team from the shutout at 14:49 of the final period on a shot that went through the pads of Olivier Adam. Moncton led 39-33 in shots on goal, with both goaltenders Olivier Adam of the blue and gold and Thomas Couture of the Axemen busy throughout the game. Each made point-blank saves at key moments in the game to keep their team in the game. 

It was the second loss in as many nights for the Axemen, who were still dangerous on a few occasions during the game. Speed of play and physical play were the order of the day for both clubs. The Axemen scored one goal on 6 power play attempts and the Aigles Bleus were 1-for-5. Edouard St-Laurent, Jacob Dion and Nathaël Roy were chosen as the 3 stars of the game.