SMU defeats Acadia 4-0
Huskies Lead Best of 5 Series 2-1
Game 3, of the best of 5 AUS semi-final playoff series, took place on Sunday night at the Halifax Forum, with the Saint Mary’s Huskies playing host to the Acadia Axemen. When the smoke cleared and the final buzzer went off, it was the Huskies winning by a score of 4-0 to take a 2-1 series lead. From here on out, it’s a win or done situation for the Axemen as they will need to take Tuesday’s game 4 in order to push the series back home to Wolfville for a game 5.
The two teams played a scoreless first period, with Acadia firing 9 shots on goal and SMU with 8, but both Brandon Glover for Acadia, and Anthony Peters for SMU, stood tall in their respective net stopping all comers. Both teams were 0 for 2 on the powerplay in the opening frame.
The second period saw SMU open the scoring at 4:33, when Bradley Greene came out from behind the net and shovelled a pass to the far side of the net, to wide open teammate Michael Curtis who tapped the pass home.
At 11:44, with Huskies defenceman Alex Cord off for checking from behind, his teammates were able to score shorthanded, when Stephen Johnston was stopped by Glover, the puck appeared to be under the goaltender’s pad, out of sight, but Jamie Doornbosch came in and knocked at the pad pushing the puck into the net. To many onlookers surprise, the goal counted and Saint Mary’s took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room after 2 period. Acadia outshot SMU 14-9 in the period; Acadia was 0 for 3 on the man advantage in the 2nd.
With hopes of a third period comeback in Acadia fans minds, SMU dashed any hope at 7:44 when Matt Tipoff broke down the wing and found Gerrad Grant breaking to the net. Grant deflected the pass into the net, taking a big hit simultaneously from Axemen Sam Fioretti. The hit knocked Grant into the boards, and he was slow to get back up, but did get to the bench on his own power.
SMU rounded out the scoring on the powerplay at 16:03, on a goal from Stephen Johnston. With the Axemen goaltender, Glover, without a stick, two SMU forward found themselves alone in front of Glover, and Shipley sent the puck over to Johnston, who one timed the puck into the open net.
Acadia continued to fire everything but the kitchen sink at Anthony Peters to no avail, sending 14 more shots his way in the third, which I believe was an under count; as he made no less than 6 saves in a 15 second period on an Axemen powerplay midway through the 3rd. Saint Mary’s had just 6 shots in the final period.
Tempers flared late in the period, when SMU’s defenseman Cord, who had already received 12 minutes in penalties for a hit from behind, drilled an Axemen player into the boards and was called for a minor for contact to the head, 10 minute misconduct, and a game misconduct. Disregard for players safety & reckless were 2 thoughts that came to mind for Cord play on the night, racking up 34 PIM’s in this game.
Acadia will need to wipe their memory clean and look to focus on the task at hand on Tuesday night. Two key elements will be to capitalize on the powerplay, and get the puck past Anthony Peters. The Axemen fired a total of 37 shots at the SMU net but came up empty, along with going 0 for 7 with the man advantage. Both stats will need to change in order for a better outcome on Tuesday.