AUS Semi-Final Breakdown
StFX X-Men vs Acadia Axemen
The Acadia Axemen and StFX X-Men square off in a best of 5, AUS men’s hockey semi-final series starting in Wolfville on Thursday night at 7pm at the Andrew H. McCain Arena. Tickets are now available for the opening two games of the series, with game 2 taking place Friday night, also on Axemen home turf. This is going to be a tightly contested series, with the two teams matching up closely, both sides with four deep lines, punishing defenders, and both teams having two goalies who are more than capable of stealing the series for their respective teams given the chance.
Here’s how the teams matched up in the regular season:
The Acadia Axemen finished 2nd in the AUS with a 20-8-2 record for 42pts. They finished the season out strong, winners of their last 5 games. Acadia was particularly strong on home ice going 12-3, on the season.
StFX, meanwhile, compiled a 16-12-2 record; their 34pts were good for 3rd place in the AUS, and they are coming off a strong quarterfinal playoff series which saw them defeat U de M Aigles Bleus in 2 straight in the best of 3 quarterfinals.
The Axemen are capable of scoring plenty of goals, with 111 on the season, 12 more than the X-Men’s 99. The Axemen also had the edge in keeping the puck out, allowing just 86 goals against vs X’s 102. That’s a goal differential of +25 for Acadia to StFX’s negative (-3).
Despite the goal differential, StFX had Acadia’s number this season, winning the season series 4 games to 1. However, the Axemen may have made their statement on the final game of the season, where they knocked off the X-Men 8-5, getting the monkey off their back against the Antigonish team.
Puck Stoppers
This is where things get very interesting, Acadia has two confident goalies, who both go into the playoffs on a hot streak; the Axemen have yet to name their starter for Thursday night, however both Robert Steeves and Devin Williams numbers below are impressive in the regular season:
Robert Steeves 16GP, 11 Wins 5 Losses, 2.46GAA, .912SV% (1-2 record vs X this season)
Devin Williams 17GP, 8 Wins 4 Losses, 2.80GAA, .896 SV% (0-2 record vs X this season)
A similar situation with StFX, where Chase Marchand overall had the stronger season for the X-Men, however Brandon Hope elevated his game against the Axemen going 2-1. Marchand is likely to be the starter despite this.
Chase Marchand 19GP, 11 wins 6 losses, 2.78GAA, .913 SV% (2-0 record vs Acadia this season)
Brandon Hope 12GP, 5 wins 7 losses, 3.87GAA, .877 SV% (2-1 record vs Acadia this season)
Up Front
The Axemen are led by Boston Leier, who had a dominant season with a team leading 18 goals and 32 points. Freshman Stephen Harper tallied 25 points in just 26 games and has the ability to take over a game in this league. 5th year forward and Co-Captain Brett Thompson capped a great regular season career with 25 points and will be counted on for leadership and production in this series. Acadia’s black ace will be Kyle Farrell who scored 16 points, including 10 goals in just 18 games this season; Farrell has shaken the rust off from injury in the past few games since returning and could be ready to shine in this series.
Another key player for Acadia will be Sam Fioretti. Fioretti put up 21 points in 25 games this year, while recording 79 minutes in penalties. He is a fierce two way competitor who kills penalties, plays the powerplay, and a tight series like this should be one he thrives on.
For StFX, they are led by senior, Michael Clarke who had 28pts on the season, but was a -2 in the (+/-) rating. The most dangerous X-Men is Eric Locke. Locke had a team leading 13 goals, and 28pts, and was a +11. With great speed and a lethal shot, the Axemen will need to find a way to keep him contained. Senior forward Holden Cook had 27 points in 27 games, with 12 goals but was also a -6.
Junior Kristoff Kontos notched 23pts, while freshmen Bryson Cianfrone had 21 pts including 10 goals for the blue shirts in the regular season.
The Blue Line
On the backend, Acadia is led by offensive dynamo Matthew Pufahl who had 27pts, including 7 goals in 28 games, and was a +20 on the season. 4th year defender, and Axemen Co-Captain Geoff Schemitsch will log big minutes and continue to play a key role, he had 24 points in 30 games, and was a +16 while playing against many of the teams top lines.
Acadia defense will look to play a physical, punishing game led by their trio of big rearguards in Alex Lepkowski, Liam Maaskant and Marc McNalty.
StFX counters with junior Jagger Dirk, who put up 16 points in 30 games, while freshman Cole MacDonald equaled that output, also in 30 games. Senior Max Iafrate will likely play key minutes, he had 9 points in 27 games, adding a fierce element to the X-Men game with 92 minutes in penalties.
Powerplay
On the man advantage StFX was 17.7%, while Acadia had terrific struggles early on in the season, but bounced back to finish at 14%.
Penalty Killing
Acadia gets the edge in penalty killing with 86.5% efficiency, while StFX was at 82.8%.
Acadia comes into the series perhaps as healthy as they’ve been all year, with no known injuries that will keep players out of the lineup.
All stats aside, this is going to be a great series, and don’t be surprised if it’s a long series. Both teams match up well and are well aware what’s at stake. The winner of the series not only earns a birth in the AUS finals, but also earns a spot in the University Cup tournament in March. Buckle up and get ready for some great AUS hockey, starting Thursday night in Wolfville at 7pm.