Game Preview: Acadia Axemen vs Saskatchewan Huskies
Down but not out; a win & some help needed
The Axemen will need a little help if they want to take home this year’s University Cup, but first they must take care of business themselves. In a season deciding game for the Acadia Axemen, the Atlantic University Sport representative at the CIS University Cup will face the host team, the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
Acadia dropped a 4-2 decision to the Windsor Lancers on Thursday night, which now means they need to beat the host team Friday night, and then look for the Huskies to knock off the Lancers on Saturday evening. With all the teams at this tournament being so close competitively, this is by no means a long shot. If the three teams in the Axemen’s pool are tied with 1 and 1 records, the team to advance to Sunday’s University Cup final will be chosen by the tie-breaker of goals for and goals against differential. This is why you may have noticed that the Axemen did not pull their goalie, Evan Mosher, in the final minute of play in the 4-2 loss to Windsor.
The Axemen had two defencemen leave Thursday’s games with injuries; both Colin Archer and Cullen Morin left the game and did not return. There is no update available at this time on their statuses for Friday’s game. With fellow blue liner Geoffrey Schemitsch also out with injury, the Axemen will need to play a tight defensive game as a team.
The host Huskies, meanwhile, look to shake the rust off after a long layoff since losing their quarterfinal playoff round 2 games to 1 to UBC back on February 23rd. U of S enjoyed a successful regular season under long-time head coach Dave Adolph, going 17-11 on the season, including an impressive 11 win to only 3 loss record on home ice. The Huskies, who also hosted last year’s University Cup, are trying to improve on a 0-2 finish, leaving them third in their pool in 2013. The only National Championship came in 1983 for U of S Men’s Hockey, coach Dave Adolph was co-captain on the team.
The Huskies rely on a quartet of seniors for scoring, led by #19 Derek Hulak, who amassed 48 points on the season, including 35 assists. He ran away with the scoring race in the Western Conference, finishing just 2 points back of the nation’s leading point getter.
Top scoring defenceman , #17 Kenton Dulle tallied 29 points, including a team leading 15 goals this year; while Andrew Bailey 26 pts, Brennan Bosch with 25 and 2nd year Jesse Ross had 24 points for the Huskies.
In goal, senior Ryan Holfeld will be back in net, he played 26 games for the Huskies this season, going 15-11, with a stingy 2.42 Goals Against Average and a .918 Save Percentage.
Acadia will need their top line of CIS MVP Liam Heelis, co-AUS top point getter Mike Cazzola, and Brett Thompson to continue to carry the play. They had a great start to Thursday’s game, but penalty trouble for the Axemen limited the trio’s ice time in the second half of the game and took away the momentum which they had built.
Game time at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon is 10 pm Atlantic, you can watch the game live online at cis-sic.tv, or listen to the Voice of the Acadia Axemen, Len Hawley, on 97.7FM or online at avrnetwork.com.
For live in game tweets follow @axemenhockey on Twitter, and for scoring updates check out Facebook.com/axemenhockey