Author: acadiaaxemenhockey

McCollum stops 22 shots in loss

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Make it two straight losses for the Acadia Axemen (3-6-1) as the UNB Reds cruised to their seventh straight win with a 5-0 victory.

This game marks the third of the season that Acadia has been shut out by their opponent. Coming up against the hottest goalie in the AUS, Samuel Richard (Ste. Catherine, Que.), did not help Acadia either.

UNB started their offensive onslaught early in the first period when Brady Gilmour (Grafton, Ont.) knocked a puck in at the side of the net.

Simon Pinard (Drummondville, Que.) added to UNB’s lead shortly after the midway point of the period when he split the Acadia defence and slid a backhand past the Acadia goalie Conor McCollum (Pickering, Ont.) to double his team’s lead.

Acadia’s best chance in the period came when Liam Kidney (Enfield, N.S.) got a partial breakaway. However, Kidney was unable to solve the UNB goalie.

At the end of the period, the REDS held a 12-9 lead in shots.

The second period saw UNB continue their offensive dominance, putting up another two goals.

Jason Willms (Kitchener, Ont.) potted the first goal of the second for the REDS, 33 seconds into the period while shorthanded.

A turnover by Acadia exiting their zone led to Willms being left alone in front of Acadia’s net. Willms deked out McCollum and slid the puck under his pads to extend the UNB lead to 3-0.

Cole MacKay (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) notched the other goal of the period, as he fired a one-timer into the top right corner of the net in the final minutes of the second to give the REDS a 4-0 advantage.

UNB held a 20-15 lead in shots heading into the final frame.

Kade Landry (Gowanstown, Ont.) capped off the scoring for UNB with just under two minutes remaining in the game.

Landry stepped in from the blueline and wired a wrist shot high off the left side post and in to put his team up 5-0.

Together, Acadia and UNB recorded 124 minutes in penalties in the third. Most of the penalties came during a pair of scraps late in the period.

Conor McCollum stopped 22 of 27 shots for the Axemen, while his UNB counterpart Samuel Richard turned aside all 20 shots he faced on the night for his first shutout of the season.

UNB players Austen Keating (Guelph, Ont.) and Michael Petizian (Mississauga, Ont.) were awarded Subway First and Third Stars of the Night, respectively. Matt McKim (St. John’s, Nfld.) was named the second star for Acadia.

Acadia now heads out on a four-game road trip that will see them take on UNB, Moncton, UPEI, and Saint Mary’s, before returning home on Friday, November 25^th to take on UNB again. The REDS host Acadia and Saint Mary’s beginning this Friday with the Axemen.

Recap by Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

McMaster & Hopwo score in Axemen loss

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Penalty trouble killed the Acadia Axemen’s chance at a win on Saturday night, as the team fell 4-2 to the StFX X-Men. StFX had a total of nine power-plays on the night and they capitalized on two of them.

Subway First Star of the Night Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, N.S.) scored the game-winning goal and added a pair of assists for StFX.

Acadia jumped out to an early lead, which turned out to be their only one of the game, on a marker from the second star of the night Adam McMaster (Beamsville, Ont.).

McMaster cut into the offensive zone and wired a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net to make it 1-0 with 17:29 left to play in the opening frame.

However, the Axemen ran into serious penalty trouble in the first frame and gave the X-Men an opportunity to put up two power-play goals.

Josh Nelson (Lockport, IL) scored both goals in the first period for StFX, roughly five minutes apart from each other.

Nelson’s first goal came on a wrist shot from the slot, while his second was from a scramble in front of the net where the puck bounced off the goalie, then the post, and then in.

By the end of the first period, Acadia was down 15-12 in shots.

The second period saw chances on both sides, but Acadia was unable to tie the game.

StFX extended their lead late in the period when Jacob Hudson came out of the penalty box and broke in on an odd-man scoring chance. Hudson buried a wrist shot low glove side to make it 3-1.

By the end of the second period, Acadia held a 24-22 shot lead, despite trailing in the game.

The Axemen made things interesting late in the third after they notched a powerplay goal.

Corson Hopwo (Duncan, B.C.) came out of the corner, protected the puck in front of the net and then flipped the puck over the StFX goalie to make it 3-2.

Liam Hawel (Arnprior, Ont.) sealed the victory for StFX with an empty-net goal with 33 seconds left to play.

Axemen goaltender Zachary Paputsakis turned aside 30 of 33 shots on the night, while his StFX counterpart and third star of the night Joseph Raaymakers stopped 40 of 42 shots.

Acadia drops to 3-5-1 and returns to play on Tuesday, Nov. 8 against the UNB REDS at 7:00 pm. The X-Men improve to 4-5-0-0 and host UPEI on Wednesday, Nov. 9 – at 7:00 pm start.

RECAP By: Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

Sellan scores 2 goals in win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – It was an offensive explosion for the Acadia Axemen (3-4-1) on Friday night, as they snapped their four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers (1-7-0).

Acadia had a strong offensive night, outshooting the Tigers 43-18 and dominating offensive zone play throughout the game.

Four Axemen players scored their first goal of the season, including rookies Corson Hopwo (Duncan, B.C.) and Brendan Sellan (Hanover, Ont.), who scored two on the night.

The first period saw a pair of Acadia rookies net their first career U SPORTS goal.

Brendan Sellan was the first rookie to score. Sellan redirected a slap pass from Jack Flaman, who fired the puck toward the Tigers’ net from inside the blueline, to make it 1-0.

Corson Hopwo added to Acadia’s lead, and nabbed his first university career goal, just under two minutes later on a wrist shot that he buried upstairs on the glove side past the Tigers goalie Connor Hicks (Kanata, Ont.).

Subway First Star of the Game, Liam Kidney (Enfield, N.S.) stole the puck off a Tigers player’s stick at center ice and brought the puck into the offensive zone before handing it off to Hopwo.

“The guys were talking before the game about coming out hot and playing against this team in our rink and definitely exploiting them with the space on the ice and that showed earlier on in the game,” said Kidney after the game.

After taking a timeout early in the period, Dalhousie replied with a power-play marker from Jarrett Baker (Black Rock, N.S.).

Baker fired a quick shot from the slot that beat the Acadia goalie up high to cut the deficit in half for the Tigers.

However, Acadia extended their lead late in the opening period with their first power-play goal in six games from Orlando Mainolfi (Richmond Hill, Ont.).

Acadia held a dominant 14-5 lead in shots by the end of the first.

Keegan Stevenson (Aweres Township, Ont.) added to the lead for the Axemen early in the second. Stevenson took a pass from Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, Sask.) and deked out Hicks before sliding a backhander into the net while falling.

The shots were heavily in Acadia’s favour by the end of the second, as the Axemen held a 31-14 lead going into the final frame.

Acadia continued to dominate the play in the third. Riley Webb (Stoney Creek, Ont.) added a fifth goal for Acadia on a weird bounce in the third.

Dalhousie added a power-play marker from Logan Johnston (Fredericton, N.B.) late in the third, but it was too late to make a difference in the outcome of the game. Johnston was named the Second Star of the Game.

Acadia goalie Conor McCollum (Pickering, Ont.) turned aside 16 of the 18 shots he faced on the night, while Hicks stopped 38 of 43 shots.

Acadia has two home games in the four days, as they take on the StFX X-Men on Saturday, Nov. 5, and the UNB Varsity Reds on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm.

Contributed by Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

McCollum makes 26 saves in Axemen loss

By Thomas Becker of UPEI Athletics

The Panthers recorded their fourth straight win Saturday night after shutting out the Acadia Axemen 3-0. 

Darian Pilon, Ryan Stepien and TJ Shea each found the back of the net in the win, while goaltender Jonah Capriotti turned aside 21 shots for his first shutout of the season. 

“The boys are really confident right now. We’re working together and we believe in each other,” Pilon said. 

After a slow start to the game that was highlighted by the strength of each team’s defence, the Panthers (5-3-0) finally broke the deadlock at 11:42 of the second period. On the play, Acadia (2-4-1) tried to clear the puck from their zone, but Pilon nabbed the puck from the air and placed a beautiful backhand shot by goaltender Conor McCollum for the power play goal. 

Defense and goaltending continued to shine throughout the second period and most of the third before UPEI delivered the final blow. After taking a big check with four minutes left to play, Stepien stayed in the play and got the puck back along the side of the net, where he roofed a shot over the goalie’s shoulder to make it 2-0. 

As McCollum tried to skate to the bench for the six-on-five opportunity, the Axemen turned the puck over in the neutral zone, where Shea gathered it and skipped a shot in the open cage for the 3-0 win. 

“Our team has been in tune with being prepared and ready to go for each game,” Pilon said. “When we’re playing our game, no one can really play with us.” 

The Panthers’ next test comes Friday night when they take on the visiting UNB Reds, while the Axemen return home where they’ll welcome the Dalhousie Tigers.