Acadia Axemen fall 4-3 to UMass Lowell

Axemen fall prey to the 3rd period penalty calls

The Acadia Axemen looked to bounce back from a tough 7-1 loss at the hands of the BU Terriers, as they faced the UMass Lowell River Hawks on Sunday afternoon. The Axemen came out with a strong effort, outplaying the home team for much of the game, but the River Hawks came from behind on the strength of a number of 3rd period powerplays to defeat the Axemen 4-3.

The River Hawks opened the scoring at 13:49 of the first period, on the powerplay, when Colin O’Neill scored from the slot, beating Axemen starting goalie Dawson Carty.

The Axemen answered back on the powerplay, when Jackson Houck ended up in alone on River Hawk netminder Tyler Wall and popped a shot to the top corner, blocker side on the New York Ranger drafted netminder, to square the game at 1 at 15:39 of the 1st period.

The home team took the lead back before the end of the period when Chris Schutz made it 2-1 at 17:53. UML had the 13-11 edge in shots in the opening frame.

Acadia tied the game back up at 7:49 of the 2nd period when Jack Flaman skated down the left wing and ripped a shot on the short side over the River Hawk goalie’s shoulder. The goal was the Axemen’s first even strength goal on the season. That was all the scoring in the 2nd period, Acadia played a very strong period, outshooting UML 12-6 in the period.

The third period saw the Axemen take their first lead of the game when Owen MacDonald took a beautiful feed from 1st year defenceman Garrett McFadden, and fired it in the back of the UMass Lowell net at 4:08 of the 3rd. It looked like the Axemen may head for the bus with a victory, until the penalty parade began. A number of calls came fast and furious at the Axemen, leading to a number of 5 on 3 advantages for the home team. They deposited at 13:29 when Charlie Levesque tipped home a shot to make it a 3-3 game, and still on the powerplay at 15:56, Ryan Lohin, put the River Hawks up for good, 4-3.

The Axemen were dished out 36 penalty minutes in the 3rd period (10 minute misconducts to Ryan Foss & Rodney Southam), and the home team came out without any, for a total of 44 total penalty minutes for the Axemen in the game to UML’s 6 minutes. Acadia went 1 for 3 on the powerplay, while UML was 3 for 7 with the man advantage.

Shots in the third period, 11-4 in favour of UMass Lowell, for a total of 30-27 in the game, also in favour of the home team.

The Axemen head home from their 2 game NCAA exhibition tour, before heading back on the road on Wednesday night, as they travel to Antigonish to take on the StFX X-Men at the Keating Arena at 7pm.

Highlights of the game from the UMass Lowell Twitter Feed: