Acadia defeats Dalhousie 5-2
Franko nets two in Axemen victory
The CIS men’s hockey #1 ranked Acadia Axemen got back to their winning ways on Tuesday night in Halifax, as they knocked off the Dalhousie Tigers by a score of 5-2.
The Axemen came out of the gate strong as 2nd year forward Zachery Franko scored just 58 seconds into the opening period, as he drove wide on a Dal defender before sending a back hand shot over the glove of Dalhousie netminder Corbin Boes to open the scoring. Defensemen Stephen Woodworth and Geoff Schemitsch picked up the assists on the goal. The Axemen stretched their lead to 2 at 4:20, when first year forward Kyle Farrell ripped a slap shot from the high slot, between the legs of Boes, to put Acadia up 2-0, it was Farrell’s 10th goal of the season.
But exactly two minutes later, at 6:20, Dalhousie’s Steven Johnston cut the lead in half when he scored an unassisted goal, capitalizing on an Axemen turnover in their own zone.
The game remained 2-1 until midway through the second period when Franko added his second of the game at 10:01, as he took a feed from Brett Thompson and one timed the puck past the Dal netminder, giving Franko 8 goals on the year. Just 1:30 later, the Axemen scored again, this time on the powerplay, when Mike Cazzola found a loose puck in the slot, turned and fired a shot that found the top corner of the net, to make it 4-1 Acadia. Geoff Schemitsch and Brandon Glover had the assists on Cazzola’s 13th goal on the season, tying him for most goals in the AUS with three other players.
Dal tried to claw their way back into the game, when on the powerplay early in the third period, Fabian Walsh sent a screen shot at the net that Axemen netminder Brandon Glover never saw, cutting the Acadia lead to 4-2. Felix Page and Colton Parsons had the assists on the Tigers goal at 4:22. But late it the period, Acadia had a 5 on 3 man advantage, with two Dal players in the penalty box, when defenceman Matt Pufahl wired one home from the point, his third on the season, with help from Franko, to cap off the scoring and give Acadia a 5-2 victory.
Axemen goalie Brandon Glover picked up the win, making a number of timely stops, including a highlight reel save late in the first period with his team leading by just one, when he dove across the net to take away a sure goal from a Dal player. Acadia outshot Dalhousie 27-26 on the night, with Acadia going 2 for 6 on the man advantage, while Dal went 1 for 9.
Acadia returns home for a pair of weekend games, as they host UPEI on Friday night, and welcome the UNB Varsity Reds to town on Saturday night.