Category: Game Recaps

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.

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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.

Flodell with 40 saves in Axemen loss

(FREDERICTON, NB) In a renewal of one of Atlantic University Sports’ intensifying rivalries, the UNB REDS scored three times in a five-minute span of the third period as they beat the Acadia Axemen 4-1, Wednesday night.

“It feels awesome,” said veteran REDS forward James McEwan (Chatham, ON), named Subway Player of the Game. “We haven’t really been down before, in this early part of the season, so it was good. A little bit of adversity for us to learn from and have a little bit of a fire under our butts. I thought we did a really good job answering the bell during the third.”

The game was played before 1710 fully-vaccinated and masked fans at Fredericton’s Aitken Centre.

The visitors were first to get on the scoreboard when Peyton Hoyt (Fredericton, NB) converted a one-timer on a pass from Mason McCarty (Blackie, AB) at 13:35 of the opening period.

The teams played through a scoreless second period, but it wasn’t without scoring opportunities.

Just before the eight-minute mark, UNB’s Rylan Parenteau (Saskatoon, SK) made a sprawling save on a Jack Flaman (Vibank, SK) shot from point-blank range to hold the Acadia lead to just a goal.

Logan Flodell (Regina, SK) made an equally impressive save at 13:57, with UNB working a power-play. Moments later, he got some help from defenceman Reilly Webb (Stoney Creek, ON), who got a piece of Brady Gilmour’s (Grafton, ON) shot that was destined for the back of the net.

The two teams went to the second intermission with Acadia in front 1-0.

Cue the REDS scoring explosion.

UNB finally got to Flodell at 7:08 of the third, when James Phelan (Laval, QC) swept across the front of the net and slid the puck past the Axemen netminder.

Four minutes later, McEwan broke down the left wing, crossed in front of the Acadia net and lifted a back-hand shot over Flodell to give UNB the lead.

Less than a minute after McEwan’s goal, Jason Willms (Kitchener, ON) scored his first AUS goal to put UNB up 3-1.

The REDS were then forced to kill a double-minor penalty assessed to McEwan. A deflated Axemen squad could not muster a shot during the power-play.

Nicolas Guay (Chateauguay, QC) added an empty net goal to make the final score 4-1.

“The third period, we pride ourselves in it and we know it’s our best period and the guys had the urgency of getting pucks to the net, everybody was going to the net and I think it was about time that somebody would bang one in and James Phelan got us going,” said McEwan. “Lucky enough, we had three more to pot and we were so solid in the back end, everybody really contributed.”

The REDS outshot the Axemen 44-14, but Acadia controlled the game for the first 40 minutes.

“I thought we played really well in the first and the second,” said Hoyt, in his first season with the Axemen. “Then, you know how hockey is, you can get a couple of bounces and it can change just like that, but I thought the team played really well and I think we’ll just get better for the next game coming up on Friday.”

“It felt great,” said REDS defenceman Ross MacDougall (St. Stephen, NB). He spent three seasons with the Axemen, but is now pursuing a Masters degree at UNB. “I thought we played well all game, it was just a matter of time before we beat ’em. Flodell, obviously, had a great game. It was nice to finally break through and get a couple on him.”

With the win, the REDS are now 3-and-0. The Axemen fall to 1-and-2.

UNB now awaits a Friday night visit by the Saint Mary’s Huskies. Game time is 7:00pm.

The Axemen return home and will host Moncton that same night.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics

Hoyt with Acadia goal

Antigonish, NS – The STFX X-Men hockey team gave the home crowd something to cheer about with a 2-1 victory over the Acadia Axemen Saturday night at the Keating Centre in a closely contested game.

The first two periods saw a lot of action but no goals scored as both Acadia’s Logan Flodell (Regina, SK) and STFX’s Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) kept clean sheets though 40 minutes.

There was no shortage of hits, and a minor boondoggle near the end of the second period resulted in 10-minute misconducts for X’s Declan Smith (Antigonish, NS) and Acadia’s Nicholas Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, ON).

STFX struck first in the third period with Matthew Philip (Ilderton, ON) finding twine while the X-Men were on a two-man power play. Liam Hawel (Arnprior, ON) fed STFX captain Santino Centorame (Mississauga, ON) in the low slot who fired a shot with Phillip banging in the rebound at the 2:02 mark.

Acadia made it a game just over a minute and a half later when Peyton Hoyt (Fredericton, NB) picked up the puck in the neutral zone and fired a shot from the slot that eluded Raaymakers.

The X-Men scored the game winning goal at 11:41 of the third period on a nice tic-tac-toe play. Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) made a pass to Hawel across the slot, then Hawel snapped it right back to him and Trott buried the puck in the wide open Axemen goal. Matthew Struthers (Milton,ON) had the other assist on the play.

Acadia made things interesting with a power play with 17 seconds remaining in the game, but the X-Men held on for the victory.

With the win, STFX moves to 2-0-0 early in the regular season, while Acadia falls to 1-1.

Flodell earned the third star of the game for his 34 save performance. STFX’s Hawel received the second star, and X goaltender Raaymakers was the first star and Subway player of the game with his 32 saves and second win on the young season.

STFX next hits the ice on Wednesday to take on Dalhousie at home, while Acadia heads to UNB on Wednesday and hosts Moncton on Friday.

McFadden with 3 points in Acadia win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen (1-0-0) opened their regular season on a high note, securing a 5-2 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers (0-0-1) on Friday night.

On a night that saw the home crowd pay tribute to Acadia captain Garrett McFadden before the game, the defenceman also took home Subway First Star of the Game honours with a goal and two assists.

Dalhousie got on the board early in the first period, thanks in part to a full 2-minute 5-on-3 power-play.

Darien Kleib, who also nabbed second star of the night honours, scored on a wrist shot from inside the right face-off circle, which he rifled into the top left corner of the net to make it 1-0 for the Tigers.

Acadia responded with a beautiful goal from forward Loch Morrison with 7:48 left to play in the first. Defenceman Garrett McFadden carried the puck into the zone for Acadia and dangled past a Tigers defender before sliding the puck to Loch Morrison in front of the net, where he tucked it five-hole to tie the game at 1-1.

By the end of the first period, the shots were 10-6 for Acadia.

McFadden spiced things up for Acadia early in the second with an incredible solo effort to put the Axemen ahead 2-1. After breaking into the offensive zone with a 2-on-1 opportunity, McFadden slipped around the Dalhousie defender and roofed a backhand shot to make it 2-1.

Brett Crossley answered for Dalhousie late in the second period with a sneaky shot thrown past a diving Axemen goalie to tie the game at 2-2.

However, the Dalhousie lead was short-held, as Acadia recaptured the lead less than two minutes later. Peyton Hoyt was parked in front of the net, where he picked up his own rebounded tip shot and tucked it under the sprawling Tigers goalie to put Acadia up 3-2.

Logan Flodell made a pair of unbelievable saves for the Axemen in the second period. In both cases, Flodell threw himself across the net and somehow keeping the puck out both times while laying on his back.

Heading into the third period, the Axemen held a 21-15 lead in shots.

Acadia sealed the game with two unanswered goals in the third from third star of the night Jack Flaman and Tyler Hinam.

The Axemen capitalized on an early power-play in the third period to double up on the Tigers. Thanks to a huge point shot rebound, forward Jack Flaman – parked by the right side of the net – was able to slam the puck over the goal line to take a 4-2 lead for Acadia.

Hinam sealed the game for Acadia with an empty-net goal with just under two minutes left in the game.

The game took an unfortunate turn with under a minute to play, as a full line brawl broke out between the two teams that led to a combined 19 penalty minutes.

Acadia went 1-for-4 on the power-play, while Dalhousie went 1-for-7 on the night.

Logan Flodell turned aside 27 of 29 shots for Acadia, while Dalhousie goalie Connor Hicks stopped 29 of 33 shots.

Acadia will be on the road Saturday, Oct. 9 against the StFX X-Men and Wednesday, Oct. 13 against the UNB Reds before returning home Friday, Oct. 15 to face off against the Moncton Aigles Bleus. Dalhousie next plays Saturday, Oct. 9 at home against the Saint Mary’s Huskies.

Provided by Josh Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

Colella with two assists for Acadia

WOLFVILLE, N.S – For the first time since the 2019-20 season, the Acadia Axemen played in front of fans in the Andrew H. McCain Arena. Despite a strong effort from Acadia, they dropped their first exhibition game of the season to the Saint Mary’s Huskies 4-3 in OT.

Saint Mary’s opened the scoring early, with a beautiful passing play that was finished by forward – and second star of the night – Dennis Busby when he cut in front of the net and tipped a pass under the crossbar.

Acadia responded late in the period with a goal from Subway First Star of the Night Mason McCarty to tie the game. McCarty scored after picking up a rebound in front of the net and shovelling it past the sprawling goaltender to make it 1-1.

By the end of the first period, the shots were 14-10 for the Axemen.

The Huskies were quick to break the tie in the second, as Nathan Dunkley broke in wide on the left and rifled a snapshot into the top right corner to make it 2-1.

Adam McMaster answered for the Axemen at the midpoint of the second period. Maurizio Colella got the puck in front of the net and pushed it out to McMaster, who threw it past the screened Huskies goalie into the wide-open right side of the net to knot the game at 2-2.

Despite opportunities on both sides, including a mad scramble in front of the Huskies net with multiple scoring chances that led to an Axemen power-play, the game remained tied heading into the final frame.

By the end of the second period Acadia pulled ahead in the shot department, leading 25-16.

While the game remained deadlocked for the first half of the final period, the tie was broken with 10:13 left to play in the final period on a goal from forward Loch Morrison.

Morrison took a pass from behind the net and fired it past the Saint Mary’s tender to give Acadia their first lead of the game.

Yet, the Huskies were determined to stay in the game, as they tied it late in the frame on a point shot from defenceman Zachary Hoffman wired past a diving Flodell.

A highlight of the third period came when Axemen goalie Logan Flodell dove across his crease to rob a sure Huskies goal with his blocker and glove.

With the game tied at the end of regulation, the Axemen and Huskies headed to a 5-minute 3-on-3 OT.

Although Acadia had multiple scoring opportunities in the extra frame, it was Huskies defenceman – and third star of the night – Cedric Ralph who ended the game on a 2-on-1. Ralph redirected a pass from Busby off his leg and into the net for the game-winner.

Axemen goaltender Logan Flodell turned aside 16 of 20 shots, while his Saint Mary’s counterpart Matt Welsh stopped 35 of 38 shots.

Acadia plays three more exhibition games before kicking off their regular season against the Dalhousie Tigers on Oct. 8 in Wolfville. The Axemen are in Fredericton, NB this Friday night to take on host UNB.

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Submitted by Josh Foote
Acadia Athletics Communications

A familiar face, Scott Trask, joins the hockey staff

This past year was a challenge for all university sport hockey teams and for the Axemen it was no different, however it was the program’s philosophy not to make excuses and move ahead to get better wherever possible.

The addition of alumnus Scott Trask, as the strength and conditioning coach, has proven to be a crucial step in this season’s preparation. “Scottie has been a huge addition for our program. We are fortunate that many recent alumni are deciding to make the Annapolis Valley their home and we are extremely fortunate he made this choice as well”, explained head coach Darren Burns.

“It’s pretty simple he has never underachieved as a person or a player and has always been on successful teams. He has always been a committed teammate and person. You can’t go wrong with adding a person with these qualities. I learned a lot from coaching him and as a staff we knew he would be a huge addition for our program.”

Trask, a native of Bonavista, Newfoundland, played 3 seasons with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL, winning the league title in 2009-10. He finished up his junior career by captaining the Summerside Western Capitals Junior A to a MJAHL championship in 2012-13. He then joined the Acadia Axemen from 2013-2017 notching 15 points in 84 regular season games. He won back-to-back SPHL championships with the Huntsville Havoc in 2017-18/2018-19. Scott also suited up for 2 games in the ECHL with his hometown Newfoundland Growlers in their expansion season of 2018-19.

We asked Scott about what it meant to be back with the Acadia hockey program and his focus in his new role, he said, “I’m very thankful for the opportunity to give back to a program that gave me so much during my time as an Axemen.  It means a lot to be in this role as it is something that I’m passionate about and take great pride in.  In my role, my focus for the team is to get the athletes game ready and help prepare them to compete for a National Championship.”

Coach Burns added, “Scott was raised to work hard and to be a leader and he brings this same type of mentor ship to our players. The reality is these players need the best resources to be the best players and people they can be if they want to be winners. As a staff you need to utilize different resources and that’s where Scott has been huge in our players off season training. We are lucky here in the Valley, as many players found employment here this summer and we are thankful to the many local businesses who have supported them, so that they could stay here this summer to get ready for the upcoming season.”

The Axemen would also like to recognize Josh Nowlan, their student strength & conditioning coach, who did an excellent job this past winter with the players.

5 different goal scorers in Acadia win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – After a prolonged wait – and without the usual deafening fanfare – the Acadia Axemen returned to the Andrew H. McCain Arena for the first time in roughly a year to face off against the Dalhousie Tigers in a 5-3 win.

Despite falling down 2-0 in the first period and a late push from the Tigers, Acadia used their three unanswered goals in the second and beginning of the third to get their first win of 2021.

The Axemen first hit the ice in a 6-4 loss to the Saint Mary’s Huskies. This game is part of an exhibition series between the Axemen, the Tigers, and the Huskies.

The Tigers kicked off the scoring early, taking a 1-0 lead twenty seconds into the period on a goal from Chandler Yakimowicz.

Yakimowicz scored on a controversial play, as defenceman Christian Huntley threw a puck on net after appearing to step offside. Huntley’s shot came to Yakimowicz in front of the net and he tapped it in to make it 1-0.

Dalhousie doubled their lead at 10:22 in the first, when Matt Green notched a power-play marker. Green came into the offensive zone with a burst of speed, took a pass from Campbell Pickard and ripped a shot into the top right corner to make it 2-0.

The Tigers took their 2-0 lead into the second period, while leading in shots 9-7.

The second period saw the Axemen tie the game on goals from two rookies.Read more »