Acadia downs STU 6-1
Franko & Giftopolous with 3pts each
The Acadia Axemen defeated the St. Thomas Tommies by a 6-1 margin on Friday night in Wolfville. With the win, the Axemen sweep the season series 4-0, scoring 32 goals in the 4 games to the Tommies 16.
St. Thomas kept things tight early, and were the first on the board, with JC Laflamme tallying an unassisted goal shorthanded at 13:09 of the first period to put the away team up 1-0. With Acadia on the powerplay, the puck hopped over the stick of Axemen defenceman Chris Owens’ stick, as he tried to hold the blue line. That sent Laflamme in all alone, and he found the back of the net, beating Acadia first year goaltender Robert Steeves.
But the Axemen battled back just 1:11 later as Scott Trask buried a shot past Tyson Teichmann to even the score at 1; it was Trask’s second goal on the season and Giftopolous and Poliziani picked up assists. Acadia went to the powerplay and took the lead for good at 16:55 of the opening frame as Zach Franko fired a bullet to the top corner of the net for his 9th goal on the season; Poliziani picked up his second assist on the night on the goal. Acadia would take the 2-1 lead into the dressing rooms, leading the way in shots by a 19-7 margin.
The second period stayed relatively tight, mostly due to some great goaltending from Teichmann, the Tommies goaltender, as he turned away 16 of 17 shots in the 2nd period. The only shot to beat him was off the stick of Zach Franko, adding his second on the night. Remy Giftopolous had his second helper on the goal, with Matt Pufahl also getting an assist.
Acadia turned up the heat in the third period, coming out of the gates with a goal at 51 seconds on the powerplay from Giftopolous, his third point on the night, with Franko picking up an assist for his third point, and Chris Owens getting an assist.
With the Axemen back on the powerplay at 4:38, Mike Cazzola netted his 11th on the season to make it a 5-1 game; Owens and Alex Beaton added helpers. Rounding out the scoring was Travis Randell at 16:09 of the third, as he scored shorthanded to ice the 6-1 victory. Shots on goal in the third period were 10-10 for a 3 period total of 46 for Acadia and 24 for STU.
Acadia was 3 for 11 on the powerplay while the Tommies were 0 for 3. The win keeps the Axemen in sole possession of second place in the AUS, 2 points up on the SMU Huskies, and 3 points back of UNB.
Acadia hosts the UPEI Panthers on Saturday night at the Andrew H McCain Arena in Wolfville. Puck drops at 7pm.