Acadia down Saint Mary’s 3-0 in Game 2

Axemen Move To Within One Win Of AUS Championship

The Acadia Axemen and Saint Mary’s Huskies renewed their hockey rivalry Friday night in Wolfville in Game 2 of the AUS Conference championship series.  Despite a much better performance from Huskies’ goaltender Anthony Peters, the Huskies still fell behind in the series 2-0 of the best of five.  Acadia took Game 2 with a 3-0 win.

It was a sharp contrast to Game 1, which the Axemen took by a 6-3 score.  After a scoreless first period, the Axemen broke through at 6:37 of the second, as Travis Randell scored off a fantastic pass from Alex Beaton.  The Axemen were up 1-0, a rare treat as Peters turned in a much improved performance from the night before.

Acadia netminder Evan Mosher matched his counterpart save for save in this one, however, stifling all 19 shots he faced for the shutout victory.  Peters stopped 20 of 21 shots he faced.  He was on the bench when Acadia scored two empty net goals – one from Travis Gibbons and one from Dustin Ekelman – in the last two minutes of the game, as Saint Mary’s had pulled Peters for their sixth attacker.  It was a move that ultimately backfired as Acadia sealed the deal and moved within one victory of the CIS championships to be held in Saskatoon later this month.

Watch the video highlights of the game here:

However, it was a game marred with several questionable hits that took their toll on both teams.  Axemen defenseman Christopher Owens was leveled with a hard hit in the second period and did not return.  At the time of this writing, there was no word of his status for Game 3.

Saint Mary’s also targeted leading scorer Liam Heelis with several questionable hits, one that looked as though it was aimed at his head.  Heelis was a target all night, but emerged from the match unscathed.

Game 3 is set to go on Sunday night at the Halifax Forum.  The Axemen can punch their ticket to Saskatoon with a victory there.  You can catch all the action on www.austv.ca, or follow AVR’s Len Hawley as he brings you the radio play by play.  You can also follow our in game tweets by following @axemenhockey and @OpeningFaceoff.  Game time is 7:00pm.

Game Story by Justin Halbersma of OpeningFaceOff.net