Category: Game Recaps

Three first period goals power Acadia to victory

WOLFVILLE, N.S – Following two weeks on the road that saw Acadia go 2-2, the U SPORTS No. 7 ranked Axemen (11-5-1) defeated the UPEI Panthers (4-12-1) 6-3 in the first of two home games this weekend before the Christmas break. Axemen forward and Subway First Star of the Game Boston Leier scored two goals on the night to help the Axemen secure the win.

Acadia was strong offensively in the first and held a 3-0 lead heading into the second period.

Axemen forward and Third Star of the Game, Chance Braid, opened the scoring, lifting the puck past the left shoulder of the Panthers’ goalie Matt Mahalak, knocking the water bottle off the top of the net in the process.

Adding to their lead, Axemen forward Boston Leier scored a power-play marker late in the period.

Leier took a pass from Stephen Harper while coming over the blue-line and ripped a wrist shot over the glove of the Mahalak to make it 2-0.

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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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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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