Category: Game Recaps

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Braid tallies for Axemen in loss

Antigonish, NS – The U SPORTS No, 4 ranked StFX X-Men topped the No. 7 ranked visiting Acadia Axemen 2-1 in their last home game of the fall term. The victory marked the fifth consecutive win for the X-Men in a rough-and-tumble game Friday evening at the Charles V. Keating Centre in front of a crowd of 900. 

Matt Needham (Pentincton, BC) potted the game winner in the third period for X while Subway player of the game Chase Marchand (Halifax, NS) posted 27 saves in goal as he earned his league-leading 10th win of the season between the pipes. 

The first goal of the game came 5:32 seconds into the opening period. Axemen forward Boston Leier (Saskatoon, SK) took possession of the puck from X-Men defenseman Cole MacDonald (Wetaskiwin, AB) while on the penalty kill. He then found Chance Braid (Wainwright, BC) who fired a snapshot as the Axemen’s first shot on goal beat Marchand for the short-handed marker.  

The X-Men responded with a tally of their own midway through the period and 17 seconds into a power play opportunity. Following several quality scoring opportunities in the Axemen zone, the X-Men solved goaltender Robert Steeves (St. Joseph-de-Kent, NB) as forward Michael Clarke (London, ON) scored his 10th goal of the season. From the blue line Santino Centorame (Mississauga, ON) passed off to Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, ON) who found Clarke in the slot. Clarke snapped the puck over the glove of Steeves to tie the game at one.  

Shots in the first period favoured StFX at 16-9. 

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Harper & Leier both with a goal & 2 assists

The Acadia Axemen (9-4-1) fended off a first period push from UdeM Aigles Blues (1-10-2) on Friday night in Moncton, before putting up 9 goals, to defeat the Aigles Bleus 9-1. In a rematch from a week ago in Wolfville, that saw Acadia win 6-1, the Aigles Bleus came out in the first period looking for redemption in front of their home town crowd. UdeM had numerous grade A scoring chances, including 12 shots in the opening period, but Acadia netminder Robert Steeves was up to the challenge, keeping the game scoreless.

That was until Axemen Remy Giftopoulos picked up a miscued clearing pass from a UdeM defender and went in all alone on Moncton starting goalie Alexi Thibaudeau, going forehand to backhand before sliding the puck past the UdeM goalie, for his 4th goal on the season, to give Acadia a 1-0 lead at 14:33. That lead held up for the remainder of the frame.

The Axemen opened up a four goal lead after the second period as the Axemen put three more behind Thibaudeau. At 3:16 of the period, Kris Hodge deflected a point shot from Liam Maaskant to make it 2-0, the goal was Hodge’s 2nd of the year. Then at 9:35, Boston Leier broke in over the blueline on a 2 on 1 with Kyle Farrell, Leier blasted a shot that ended up going off the end boards and onto the stick of his teammate. Farrell made no mistake making it 3-0 with his 9th goal of the season.

The Axemen capped off their second period scoring at 13:19 when first year forward Ryan Foss found a rebound behind the UdeM netminder on a shot from the blueline from Michael Zipp and tapped the puck home for a 4-0 lead after 2. That ended Moncton netminder Alexi Thibeaudeau’s night, as he was replaced to start the third period with Brandon Thibeau.

The Axemen turned up the heat on UdeM in the third period, scoring early and often. At 3:58 of the period, while on the powerplay, the Axemen passed the puck around masterfully as Stephen Harper parked at the top of the circle found Kyle Farrell on the opposite side of the ice, who then slide the puck back to the other side of the ice to Boston Leier who was parked at the side of the Moncton net. Leier one timed the pass home to make it 5-0, his 8th goal of the season.Read more »

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Harper & Fioretti net singles in loss

(Halifax, NS)  The Saint Mary’s Huskies picked up a 3-2 win over the Acadia Axemen Wednesday night at the Halifax Forum.

It was the fifth win a row for the Huskies (9-3-1) who take over sole possession of third in the AUS. The Axemen (8-4-1) fall to fourth.

Jake Coughler (St. Catharines, Ont.), Alexander Peters (Blyth, Ont.), with his first career AUS goal, and Calder Brooks (Emerald Park, Sask.) found the net for the Huskies.

Eric Brassard (St. Hubert, Que.) finished with 17 saves and boosted his record to 5-3.  Stephen Harper (Burlington, Ont.) and Sam Fioretti (Calgary, Alta.) scored for the Axemen.

Robert Steeves (St. Joseph-de-Kent, N.B.) made 23 saves and fell to 4-4.

Coughler got the scoring going with a power-play goal 14:49 into the first. Working with a four-on-three advantage, Peters sent the puck from below the right-circle up to Anthony Repaci (Toronto, Ont.) at the top of the circle. He fed it across to Coughler who ripped a one-timer from the left-dot high short-side.

Peters got on the board at the 18:43 mark of the frame. Steven Shipley (Ilderton, Ont.) chipped it back towards the point, Taylor Burke (Halifax, N.S.) settled down the rolling puck and handed it off to Peters who snapped it in low-blocker from the high right-slot.

The Huskies won the shot battle in the first 11-4.

The second period was where the Axemen did their damage.Read more »

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Braid & Harper each with a pair of goals

Wolfville, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen (8-3-1) defeated the Moncton Aigles Bleus (1-8-2) 6-1 on Friday night in Wolfville, thanks to a strong performance from third star of the night, goalie Dawson Carty and an offensive outburst that saw the Axemen scored four goals in the second period.

Acadia jumped out to an early 1-0 lead thanks to Subway First Star of the Game, Stephen Harper, who got the only marker of the period.

Harper scored on a one-timer, taking a pass from forward Kyle Farrell, who almost did the splits to stay onside to make the goal happen in the first place.

The Axemen had a chance to add to their lead, when Sam Fioretti was taken down while coming in on a partial breakaway and was awarded a penalty shot. Fioretti failed to score on the penalty shot.Read more »

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Steeves turns aside 44 shots in loss

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen (7-3-1) had their three-game winning streak snapped in a 4-3 loss against the Saint Mary’s Huskies (7-3-1).

Due to suspensions and injuries, the Axemen were only able dress 14 skaters for the game. The Axemen were outshot 48-24 by the Huskies.

“Yah it’s hard. They have a good team and they played hard. We took a few too many penalties. It’s tough when you are tired,” said Boston Leier after the game.

“We never use the excuse of having a short bench ever, so it is what it is. We came out hard and played hard,” noted Leier.

Saint Mary’s dominated the first period, outshooting the Axemen 17-9 and taking a 1-0 lead into the second.

Huskies defenseman Alex Cord pulled the puck out from the left side of the Axemen net and roofed it over the shoulder of Robert Steeves to make it 1-0 for Saint Mary’s.

Acadia responded in the second period with a goal on the power-play to tie the game 1-1 heading into the third.

Axemen forward Kyle Farrell scored on a wrist shot in tight that beat the Huskies’ goaltender on the low blocker side.  Read more »

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Harper with 5 points in penalty filled game

Wolfville, N.S. – The U SPORTS No. 7 ranked Acadia Axemen (7-2-1) won in a nail-biting 6-5 OT win, which saw the Axemen lose a 5-1 lead, on Friday night against the No. 3 StFX X-Men (8-1-1).

There was clearly bad blood between the two teams, who combined for 212 penalty minutes. Axemen forward and Subway First Star of the Night, Stephen Harper was the overtime hero.

“I took a dumb penatly in the third period. I felt like I had to make up for it. I was looking to pass it to Kyle but when I saw him go down, I tried to make a quick move to my left and get a shot out and I was lucky it went it,” said Harper after the game.

Harper scored on a partial breakaway, lifting the puck over the left pad of the X-Men goalie at the 2:05 mark of extra time and ignited the home crowd of over 1800 fans.

Despite being outshot 16-8 in the first period, Acadia held a commanding 3-1 lead heading into the second.

The Axemen struck a minute and a half into the game when forward Michael Clarke came out of the corner and fed it to Chance Braid who scored on his backhand.Read more »

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Harper with 4 points in Acadia victory

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen (6-2-1) started their two-week home stand with a convincing 5-0 defeat of the Dalhousie Tigers (2-6-1). Axemen goaltender and Subway First Star of the Night, Robert Steeves turned aside all 38 shots he faced for his first shutout of the year.

The first period saw Acadia take a commanding 3-0 lead, with goals from Stephen Harper, Kyle Farrell and defenseman Michael Zipp.

Harper was the first to score, burying a one-timer from a cross ice pass by Farrell.

Farrell added a goal of his own on the power-play a few minutes later, when he finished a passing play while parked in front of the Dalhousie net.Read more »

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Leier notches 4 pts in win

By Thomas Becker 

The Acadia Axemen surrendered their lead three times, but held the Panthers down long enough to escape the Island with a 7-5 win Saturday night. 

Subway Player of the Game Samuel Fioretti scored the game’s first and last goals, while teammate Kyle Farrell scored a pair as well to lead the Axemen to victory. Boston Leier finished with four points on a goal and three assists, with Owen MacDonald and Rodney Southam finding the back of the net for the other two. 

“We played hard but there are things we need to sharpen up,” Fioretti said. “We just stuck to it and we didn’t quit when they started to get momentum.” 

The Axemen (5-2-1) wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, as Fioretti was given a gift on the doorstep and made it count for the 1-0 edge just three minutes into the game. 

The Panthers (2-5-1) bounced back after surrendering the quick goal and pressured Acadia’s defence. With just over a minute remaining in the opening period, Kameron Kielly rounded the net and left the puck behind for Gabe Guertler, who fired it off rookie goaltender Dawson Carty and in for the equalizer. 

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Harper with 2 pts in loss

FREDERICTON, N.B. – One week after suffering a 3-2 overtime loss in Wolfville, the UNB Varsity Reds handed the Acadia Axemen a 7-2 loss. 

Freshman forward Kris Bennett(Brampton, ON) scored twice and added three assists to the lead the Varsity Reds. He was named the Subway Player of the Game. 

Stephen Anderson(Morell, PE) had two goals and two assists, and Mark Simpson(Rothesay, NB) scored twice. Olivier LeBlanc(Quebec City, QC) also had a goal for UNB. 

Boston Leier(Saskatoon, SK) and Stephen Harper(Burlington, ON) scored for the Axemen. 

A scary moment brought the game to a halt after just 1:28. 

Acadia’s Alex Lepkowski (Buffalo, NY) took UNB’s Chris Clapperton hard into the boards. 

Clapperton lay motionless on the ice for several minutes before being taken off on a back board. 

He was taken by ambulance to Fredericton’s Dr. Everett Chalmers Hospital, where he was alert and moving. 

“It’s tough to see something like that, but it’s out of our control,” said Bennett. “We just had to bounce back and work as hard as we can for him. We were playing for him and hopefully he’s doing well.” 

“You just hate to see that in sports,” said Axemen head coach Darren Burns. “We want to compete, but you never want to see a guy get injured.” 

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8 different goal scorers for Acadia in the win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen (4-1-1) ended their weekend on a high note, defeating the UPEI Panthers (2-4-0) 8-2, while extending their winning streak to three games. Acadia’s rookies had a strong showing, with Ryan Foss, Owen MacDonald and defenseman Michael Zipp all scoring their first goal of their USports career.

Acadia opened the scoring early, with a power-play marker 48 seconds into the first period and continued their torrent scoring pace, gaining a 4-1 lead by periods end.

Axemen forward Rodney Southam took a pass from Boston Leier and buried a well-placed wrist shot into the top left corner of the net to make it 1-0.

Acadia added to their lead before the half way mark of the first, when Subway First Star of the night Ryan Foss scored on a 2-on-1, executed to perfection.Read more »