Author: acadiaaxemenhockey

By Thomas Becker

Three goals in the game’s opening nine minutes were more than enough for the UPEI Panthers, as they shutout the Acadia Axemen 3-0 Saturday night.

Jesse Sutton and Jordan Maher scored their first goals of the season, while rookie forward Danil Antropov capped off the scoring midway through the period. Kyle Maksimovich led the way with two assists.

Rookie goaltender Jonah Capriotti, who recorded 21 saves for his first AUS shutout, said the offensive outpour helped him relax and made the game easy.

“I have to give it up to the boys for helping me out. The defence was unbelievable tonight and the forwards did their job and got some points on the board.”

The Panthers (3-2-1) jumped all over an Axemen (2-5-0) team that looked fatigued and was outworked shift after shift. It only took three minutes for UPEI to get on the board as Sutton got goaltender Max Paddock to bite on a move before sneaking a backhand by the far post.

Maher then dove for a loose puck in front of the net at 5:48 after Filip Rydstrom’s shot from the side of the net got through Paddock leaving an open net for the sophomore, who extended the lead to 2-0.

The Panthers capitalized on a power play three minutes later when Matt Brassard’s shot from the point was poked in by Antropov as the home team made it a three-goal game where it’d stay the rest of the way.

After the game, UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson praised his team’s ability to impose their will early and often, especially against a tired opponent playing their second game of a back-to-back.

“It was Acadia’s third game this week and we were sitting here waiting for them,” MacPherson said. “We wanted to establish a presence right off the bat and I thought our guys did a good job of that.”

A significant development for the Panthers this season has been their much-improved defence. Through six games, they’ve allowed the second-fewest goals and proven they can hold a lead more consistently. After seizing control early in the first period, they continued to play with intensity and poise in the defensive zone as they limited Acadia to just 21 shots, all of which were easily handled by Capriotti.

“There were spurts where Acadia had us on our heels, but we managed to rebound from that and kept pushing forward,” MacPherson said.

The Panthers return to the ice Oct. 29 when they take on the Saint Mary’s Huskies in Halifax.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan

McFadden & Hoyt with 2 assists each in loss

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Despite an attempted comeback by the home team, the Saint Mary’s Huskies (3-3-0) defeated the Acadia Axemen (2-4-0) by a score of 5-3 on Friday night. Acadia nearly doubled up the Huskies in shots, but a pair of goals from both Subway First Star of the Night Joel Bishop and Keith Getson was enough to give the Huskies the win.

Saint Mary’s jumped out to an early lead and continued to dominate the scoring, putting up three goals in the first period.

Their first goal of the night came 22 seconds into the game on a quick shot close to the net from Joel Bishop.

The Huskies’ passing got the Acadia’s goalie Logan Flodell moving side-to-side, and Bishop finished on a pass in front to make it 1-0.

Keith Getson added a pair of goals, including a power-play marker at the 4:00 mark in the first to give Saint Mary’s a 3-0 lead heading into the second period.

Getson’s second goal came out of a nice passing play in the offensive zone that ended with Getson taking a pass from Mitchell Balmas and sliding a shot under the pad of Flodell.

By the end of the opening period, Saint Mary’s held a 12-7 shots on goal lead.

While the Huskies added two more goals in the second, Acadia replied with two tallies in the final two minutes of the period.

Mitchell Balmas added to the Huskies’ lead in the second with another power-play goal to give Saint Mary’s a commanding 4-0 lead.

Dawson Theede faked a shot at the top of the right face-off circle and passed to Balmas in front for an easy tap-in goal.

Adding to their lead a few minutes later, Bishop netted his second of the night. Through the middle of Acadia’s zone, Bishop took a pass from Nathan Dunkley, and wired a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net to make it 5-0.

Acadia answered back with under two minutes left in the period when Maurizio Colella ripped a one-timer from the middle of the offensive zone to make it 5-1.

Adam McMaster ended the second on a high note for the Axemen, scoring a powerplay goal with 0.2 seconds remaining in the period.

McMaster’s goal came out of a mad scramble in front of the net. He chipped the puck in under the pad of the Huskies’ goalie Matt Welsh to close the gap to 5-2 going into the third.

After two periods of play, the shots were 25-16 in Acadia’s favour.

The Axemen continued to mount a comeback in the third but ultimately fell short.

The second star of the night, Keegan Stevenson, gave Acadia their second power-play goal of the game with 5:37 left in the third. Stevenson jammed the puck by Welsh in front of the net to narrow the Huskies’ lead to 5-3.

Acadia goalie Logan Flodell turned aside 17 of 22 shots on the night, while his Saint Mary’s counterpart – and third star of the night – Matt Welsh stopped 41 of the 44 pucks he saw.

The Axemen take to the ice again Saturday, Oct. 23 against the UPEI Panthers before returning home for a rematch with the Huskies Wednesday, Oct. 27. The Axemen’s next home game will cap off four games in week schedule. The puck drop for both games is at 7:00 pm.

Provided by Josh Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

McFadden nets pair in Acadia loss

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Continuing their strong opening to the season, the USPORTS No. 10 ranked StFX X-Men (5-1-0) pulled off a convincing 7-4 win against the No. 5 ranked Acadia Axemen (2-4-0) on Wednesday night.

One bright spot for the Axemen came when Keegan Stevenson scored his first USPORTS career goal. He potted his goal on the power-play while parked in front of the net where he lifted a backhand in tight under the crossbar.

StFX dominated play through the first period and was rewarded with a 4-0 lead by the end of the opening frame.

The X-Men opened the scoring early in the game, thanks to hard work in front of the net from William Bower.

Bower picked up a rebound off the pad of the Acadia goalie Logan Flodell in front of the net and rammed the puck in to make it 1-0.

Less than ten minutes later, StFX doubled their lead on a power-play goal from Subway First Star of the Game, Zack Trott.

In the final two minutes of the frame, StFX added two more goals to take a commanding 4-0 advantage.

The first was a breakaway from Jacob Hudson, who slipped the puck under Flodell’s glove, while the second came from Matthew Struthers, who took a cross-ice pass and lifted the puck under the crossbar in close for the final goal of the period.

By the end of the first period, shots were 14-12 for StFX.

While the second star of the night Garrett McFadden got Acadia on the board with a pair of goals in the second period, the Axemen were still down 5-2 by the end of the second period.

StFX opened the scoring in the third with a goal from third-star of the night Liam Hawel, who snuck a shot in during a scramble in front.

McFadden’s first of the period came on the power-play when he wired a shot from the right side of the ice, while his second came in the last minute of the period when he finished a pass from Maurizio Colella.

At the end of the second period, the X-Men held a 23-19 lead in shots.

It was a high-scoring third period, as both teams added two goals apiece.

StFX got markers from Matthew Phillip and Josh Nelson, while Acadia got goals from Keegan Stevenson and Jack Flaman in the back half of the final frame.

Despite the late reply from the Axemen, they were unable to answer StFX’s strong offensive performance.

Acadia goalie Logan Flodell turned aside 4 of 14 shots, before being pulled at the end of the first. Max Paddock turned aside 11 of 14 shots for Acadia in two periods of play.

StFX goalie Joseph Raaymakers stopped 28 of 32 shots.

Acadia’s next game is Friday, Oct. 22 at home against the Saint Mary’s Huskies, while StFX takes on UNB this Friday, Oct. 22. The puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm.

Provided by Josh Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

Paddock records his first AUS win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Make it two straight home wins for the Acadia Axemen (2-2-0), as the team grabbed a 3-2 win against the Moncton Aigles Bleus on Friday night. Acadia was helped by the performance of their goaltender and third star of the night Max Paddock, who turned aside 29 of 31 shots on the night.

Although Acadia held the lead for the entirety of the game, Moncton applied plenty of pressure, as they had the Axemen scrambling defensively in the final minute of the game with a 6-on-5 advantage in the Acadia zone.

Although the Axemen only had eight shots in the opening frame, they held a 2-1 lead by period end.

The home team opened the scoring early with a marker from Subway First Star of the Game Maurizio Colella exactly four minutes into the first period.

Colella streaked in front of the net, where he took a pass from Eric Henderson – who was set up behind the Moncton net – and waited out the goalie on his forehand just long enough to slide it in for a 1-0 lead.

To double up their lead, Adam McMaster tallied a power-play marker. McMaster took a cross-zone pass from McFadden at the top of the left face-off circle and wired a wrist shot bar down on the right side of the net.

Moncton cut the lead in half late in the frame when Edouard St-Laurent nabbed the puck in Acadia’s end as both teams were getting ready to leave the zone.

St-Laurent deked out the goalie in tight and lifted a quick wrister under the blocker to set the score at 2-1.

By the end of the first period, the shots were in Moncton’s favour, 10-8.

Chances were had by both sides throughout the second period, but Acadia was the only team to put up any offence in the frame, taking a 3-1 lead into the third.

Shortly after the halfway mark of the second period, Nick Deakin-Poot knocked a puck out of the air in the Moncton zone on a penalty kill. He walked in on the goalie and lifted the puck under the crossbar to give Acadia a 3-1 lead.

At the end of the second period, Acadia held a 24-18 lead in shots.

Moncton answered back early in the third period on a goal from Nathaniel Roy.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1449207455376936969

Roy picked up a rebound off the goalie’s right pad and fired it in to cut Moncton’s deficit to one.

Yet, that was as close as Moncton would come to tying the game, as they were unable to solve Paddock for the rest of the third, which sealed the Acadia win.

Moncton goalie Emile Samson turned aside 29 of 32 shots.

The second star of the night honours went to Moncton defenceman Francis Thibeault.

The Axemen take to the ice again on Wednesday, Oct. 20 at home against the StFX X-Men, while Moncton faces off against the Saint Mary’s Huskies Saturday, Oct. 16.