StFX takes a 1-0 lead in best of 3 series

ANTIGONISH, NS – A Josh Nelson (Lockport, IL) goal 19 seconds into triple overtime gave the STFX X-Men the win over the Acadia Axemen in Game 1 of their AUS quarterfinal series at the Charles V Keating Centre in on Wednesday night.  

Nelson picked up a pass from Charlie Callahan (Toronto, ON) just outside the Acadia zone, skated in and lifted one high from up close with his second goal of the game, earning third star of the game honours along the way.   

It took only 40 seconds into the first period for the home team to open the scoring, with player of the game Declan Smith (Antigonish, NS) tipping home a shot from Matthew Struthers (Milton, ON), off a pass from Matthew Phillip (Ilderton, ON). Smith added his second of the night midway through the period, with Struthers again acting as the set-up man, feeding a wide open Smith at the side of the net after picking up a long pass from Sean Stewart (Antigonish, NS).  

STFX’s defence came up big early on, holding Acadia to only two shots though the first 10 minutes. Shots at the end of the period were 14-6 in favour of STFX as they held the 2-0 lead. 

It was Acadia who came out with some jump in the second period, peppering STFX goalie Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) early on. The X-Men returned fire though, and an extended 5-3 power play provided some scoring chances, but Acadia goalie Thomas Couture (Levis, QC) kept the door closed.  

Acadia cut the X lead in half with about five minutes left to play in the stanza, with Adam McMaster (Beamsville, ON) firing one home through a screen while on the power play, with assists going to Tyler Deline (Peterborough, ON) and Cam Whynot (Kentville, NS).   

STFX replied two minutes later, as Nelson took a pass from Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) and rifled a shot top shelf on the short side. Shots at the end of the second were 29-17 in favour of the X-Men as they regained their two-goal lead. 

Acadia drew even with back-to-back goals the third, with Liam Kidney (Enfield, NS) scoring off a two-on-one with Nick Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, ON) with six minutes gone, and Brendan Sellan (Bolton, ON) getting the equalizer 90 seconds later, knocking in a rebound off a point shot from Merrick Rippon (Ottawa, ON), with Hudson Wilson (Toronto, ON) getting the other assist.  

The teams continued to battle for the rest of the period, but neither was able to score before time expired, leading to overtime.      

STFX X-Men had a man advantage with two minutes to go in the first 10-minute overtime frame, but weren’t able to capitalize, and it went to double overtime.  

Both goalies came up big in the second overtime period. Raaymakers kept the X-Men in it as they fought off a four-minute high sticking penalty, while Couture had a number of stellar saves including a cross crease dive with 30 seconds left in the second extra period, to take things to triple overtime and set up the Nelson heroics. 

Couture made 57 saves on the night, earning second star of the game. Raaymakers had 32 saves while picking up the win.  

The best of three series resumes Saturday night, February 17, in Wolfville. Game three, if necessary, is set for Monday, February 19, in Antigonish at 7 p.m. 

-30- 

Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics 

Paputsakis with 26 saves for Acadia

Antigonish, NS – The STFX X-Men shutout the Acadia Axemen 4-0 in AUS action Saturday night at the Keating Centre in the final game of the AUS season. Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) had 24 saves in the X net and was first star and player of the game.  

With the win the X-Men (16-13-1-0) clinch third place in the AUS standings, earning home ice advantage in the first round of the AUS playoffs. They will be facing off against the same Acadia (9-16-2-23) squad in the best-of-three quarterfinal series as the Axemen finished the season in sixth place. 

The game marked the final regular season game for the X-Men and coaches honored the graduating student-athletes prior to the game, including Bailey Webster (Kensington, PE), Sam Allison (Cole Harbour, NS), Matthew Philip (Ilderton, ON), Conner Bruggen-Cate (Langley, BC), Josh Nelson (Lockport, Il), Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) and Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS).  

The first period was scoreless as the Axemen had a 12-8 shot advantage in the opening 20 minutes. Each squad had a power play opportunity but it was STFX’s Liam Hawel (Arnprior, ON) who had the best scoring chance while shorthanded late in the period on a breakaway attempt but couldn’t tuck it past the pad of Zachary Paputsakis (Rockland, ON) short side. 

The X-Men opened the scoring in the game 1:21 into the second period. Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) dropped a pass off to Hawel at the top of the slot and his shot went high over the net, but Trott was on the doorstep to tuck in the timely rebound. 

Raegan Wiles (Calgary, AB) made it a 2-0 STFX lead at 6:40 on a high shot that lopped quickly in, around and out of the Acadia net. The goal was initially waved off and play continued but at the next whistle the on-ice officials confirmed it was indeed a goal. 

The X-Men outshot the Axemen 12-5 in the middle period. 

Team leading scorer Matthew Struthers (Milton, ON) tallied a power play marker three minutes into the third period to give X a 3-0 lead as he one-timed a pass from Hawel into the open Axemen net and past a sliding Paputsakis across the crease. 

The Axemen then went on the power play shortly after but were unable to solve Raaymakers in the STFX net. 

The X-Men’s fourth goal came from Declan Smith (Antigonish, NS) at 12:36 of the third period as he tucked in a rebound off a Matthew Philip (Ilderton, ON) shot.  

STFX held off the Axemen for the remainder of the period and Raaymakers earned the shutout victory in the X net. The X-Men outshot the Axemen 30-24 in the game. 

Hawel picked up second star honours with Struthers receiving the nod for third star. 

The AUS quarterfinal series schedules will be released on Sunday with Game 1 taking place at STFX, Game 2 at Acadia and Game 3 (if necessary) back at STFX. Fourth place Saint Mary’s (15-14-1-0) will host fifth place UPEI (12-14-1-3) in the other quarterfinal series. First place UNB and second place Moncton will await the quarterfinal winners for the second round best-of-five semifinals. 

-30- 

Recap courtesy Krista McKenna, STFX Athletics 

Jones scores the winner on the powerplay

WOLFVILLE – The Acadia Axemen had a big three-goal third period to pick up a 4-2 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers in their final home game of the regular season on Friday night in Wolfville.  

Adam McMaster (Beamsville, ON) opened the scoring for the Axemen just five minutes into the first period, where the score stood until 1:25 into the second when Evan MacKinnon (Beaverbank, NS) tied the game for Dalhousie. Just six minutes later Alec Belanger (Quebec City, QC) gave the Tigers the lead, which stood heading into the third.  

Over halfway through the final frame Nick Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, ON) tied the game, followed by a power play goal by Zack Jones (North Falmouth, MA) at the 17:57 mark to put the Axemen back in the lead.  

Reilly Webb (Stoney Creek, ON) iced the game with an empty-net goal in the final minute.  

Thomas Couture (Levis, QC) made 21 saves in the victory, while Nicholas Chenard (Tecumseh, ON) made 30 saves in the loss. 

Acadia wraps up their regular season on Saturday night at StFX, while Dalhousie travels across town to face the Saint Mary’s Huskies. The Axemen hold the final playoff spot in the conference and await Saturday’s results to see if they will play the StFX X-Men or Saint Mary’s Huskies in the opening round of the AUS playoffs. 

Prior to the game Acadia recognized their 2023-24 graduating seniors: Nick Deakin-Poot, Morgan Nauss (Hammonds Plains, NS), Reilly Webb, and Hudson Wilson (Toronto, ON). 

Axemen will finish 6th in the AUS conference

WOLFVILLE – The UPEI Panthers bounced back from a two-goal deficit with three unanswered goals in the first 6:12 of the third period to earn a 4-3 victory over the Acadia Axemen on Tuesday night in Wolfville.  

Tuesday’s game, postponed from the originally scheduled time on Saturday, saw the Panthers’ Elias Cohen (Toronto, ON) open the scoring just 1:08 into game. 

Acadia’s Ethan Ernst (Weyburn, SK) tied the game 6:08 into the first on the power play.  

Back-to-back Axemen goals within a minute of each other by Liam Kidney (Enfield, NS) and Brendan Sellan (Bolton, ON) put Acadia up 3-1 midway through the first. The score stood until the third.  

Ben McFarlane (Ayr, ON) chipped into the lead with his goal 1:20 into the third before a pair of goals by Noah Sedore (Sharon, ON) at 3:58 and 6:12 gave the Panthers their second lead of the night.  

Jonah Capriotti (Charlottetown, PE) made 25 saves in the win for UPEI, while Thomas Couture (Levis, QC) made 12 saves in the loss.  

UPEI wraps up their season with road games against Moncton and UNB this weekend, while Acadia hosts Dalhousie on Friday before hitting the road to face StFX on Saturday night.  

The AUS postseason will start next week with opponents for the quarter-final round still to be determined based on this weekend’s results.  

Sellan with 2 goals for the Axemen

WOLFVILLE – After taking the game to overtime with a goal in the final minute of regulation, the Axemen fell 4-3 to the Saint Mary’s Huskies thanks to the game-winning goal by Declan McDonnell (Buffalo, NY).  

McDonnell’s goal came 1:39 into the extra frame, with assists from Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON) and Ben Roger (Markham, ON).  

Brendan Sellan (Bolton, ON) scored a pair of goals to lead Acadia’s offence, including the game-tying goal with 40 seconds to go in regulation with goaltender Thomas Couture (Levis, QC) pulled.  

Couture made 35 saves in the loss, while Jeremy Helvig (Kingston, ON) made 21 saves for the Huskies in the victory.  

The point on Wednesday proves big for the Axemen as they are now five points on the Dalhousie Tigers for the final playoff spot. With four games remaining for the Tigers, they have a possible eight points available, needing to win at least one this weekend to make next week’s meeting with the Axemen matter for a postseason push.   

Two points for the Huskies puts them in third place in the AUS, just two points back of Moncton for second place and two points ahead of StFX in fourth.  

Acadia will now host UPEI at home on Saturday night, while Saint Mary’s hosts UPEI on Friday night. Puck drop for both games is 7 p.m.

Zack Jones with the lone Acadia goal

(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB REDS scored four consecutive goals in a 4-1 win over the Acadia Axemen in the 32nd annual Mark Jeffrey Memorial Game, Saturday night at UNB’s Aitken Centre. 

Macauley Carson (Midhurst, ON), Sean McGurn (Ottawa, ON), Michael Petizian (Mississauga, ON), and Kale McCallum (Rothesay, NB) scored for the REDS as they extended their undefeated streak to 26 games. 

Austin Keating (Guelph, ON), who was presented with the prestigious Mark Jeffrey Memorial Scholarship prior to the game, recorded two assists and was named Tim Horton’s Player of the Game. 

“It’s a huge honour,” said Keating, of being the recipient of the Jeffrey Scholarship. “He meant so much to this program, we have stuff all over the room honouring him, and we talk about him often, about the type of person he was.” 

“He was a player’s player, is what we call him,” Keating added. “The people who come into our locker room, that’s the type of guys we want. Someone like him. Being able to receive an award like that is a great honour.” 

The REDS wasted no time establishing their dominance in the opening period.  

“It was a great effort,” said Keating. “We started out a little slow, and they were coming at us a little bit, especially in the first five or ten minutes. But once we got our feet under us, we started taking it to them.” 

Brady Gilmour (Grafton, ON) had the REDS’ closest opportunity of the period, on the powerplay, receiving a pass from Keating, forcing Axemen goaltender, Zachary Paputsakis (Rockland, ON), to dive cross-crease, saving the puck with his stick paddle.  

The second period began, and so did the REDS scoring. 

Carson and McGurn, less than two minutes apart, scored off rebounds at 8:00 and 9:48.  

“I think Carson’s goal was huge for us,” Keating added. “Sam made some big stops when we needed it, and we grabbed momentum from there.” 

Petizian finished the period’s scoring frenzy by getting his stick on a pass from Keating, re-directing the puck under the crossbar with less than a minute left in the period. 

Leading 3-0, the REDS maintained their strong offence into the final frame. 

At 7:24, the Axemen made a goaltending change after an injury to Paputsakis. Thomas Couture (Lévis, QC) took his place in the crease. 

Paputsakis faced 37 REDS shots, saving 34. 

With a pass from Keating from behind the goal line, McCallum lasered a one-timer from his knee, landing the REDS’ fourth goal at 10:40, on the powerplay. 

Zach Jones (North Falmouth, MA), with just 17 seconds left on the clock, found his way past the REDS defenders. His shot beat REDS goaltender Samual Richard (Ste. Catherine, QC), blocker side, and rolled into the net. 

Richard stopped 17 shots for the REDS. 

“I thought it was a great team effort and a great weekend,” said Keating. “We’re looking to keep it rolling.” 

The Axemen are now in sixth place in the Atlantic University Sport standings with an 8-13-1-3 (W-L-OTL-SOL) record. 

UNB is 26-0-0-0. 

The REDS return to action Friday, in Antigonish, facing off against the STFX X-Men. Game time is 7:00pm. 

Acadia returns home for a Wednesday night game against the Saint Mary’s Huskies. Puck drop at 7:00pm. 

 

RECAP BY: Madison Tucker/for UNB Athletics 

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics 

Deakin-Poot scores two in win

The Acadia University Axemen (8-13-1-3=20pts, 6th position) scored two quick goals in a span of 27 seconds midway through the first period to defeat the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (13-9-3-0=29pts, 2nd position) 5-1 on Friday night in an Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey game at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena in front of more than 670 spectators. 

The Saint Mary’s University Huskies (13-11-1-0=27pts, 3rd place) will be the visitors on Saturday at 4 p.m. at the same venue against the Aigles Bleus. The Axemen are in Fredericton to meet the UNB Reds.  

Cole Nagy on the power play on a hard shot in front of the net at 10:02 and Nick Deakin-Poot at 10:29 gave the visitors a 2-0 lead in the first. Charles-Edouard Drouin cut that lead to 2-1 midway through the second period, but Deakin-Poot, the game’s first star, with his second of the game at 15:05 gave his team a 3-1 lead before the end of the period. Peyton Hoyt at 2:15 and Adam McMaster 6 minutes later also found the back of the net in the third to secure the win for the visitors.  

Thomas Couture, the 3rd star, stopped 24 shots for the win in net and Olivier Adam had 24 in the loss. Acadia was 1-for-3 on the power play and Moncton was 0-for-6. 

The game was not the best for the Aigles Bleus as the Axemen managed to annihilate several of the Blue and Gold’s attacks. It was Moncton’s 3rd straight loss and Acadia’s 2nd win.  

People can purchase tickets for Saturday’s game during the day at the CEPS Louis-J.-Robichaud reception desk or one hour before the start of the game at the arena box office. 

2024/01/26 

Photo Normand A. Léger 

Burns nets the 3rd period game winner

WOLFVILLE – Acadia’s three-game losing skid came to an end on Saturday night as they beat the StFX X-Men 3-2 in front of 1,326 fans at Andrew H McCain Arena in Wolfville.  

The hero on the night was Brady Burns (Port Williams, NS) who scored the game-winning goal 3:55 into the third period on the power play. With the goal he has seven on the year, trailing only Bailey Peach (Falmouth, NS) in goals. Burns still leads Acadia in points with 21 over 24 games.  

The Axemen opened the scoring 2:07 into the game, with Brendan Sellan (Bolton, ON) taking a pass from goaltender Thomas Couture (Levis, QC). Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, SK) made it 2-0 before StFX’s Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) cut into the lead before the end of the period.  

Trott’s power play goal made it 2-1 after 20.   

Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) tied the game 2-2 midway through the second period, where the score stood heading into the final frame.  

In the victory Couture made 37 stops, while Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) made 28 saves in the loss.  

StFX will host Dalhousie on Wednesday night in Antigonish before travelling to Charlottetown to battle the Panthers on Friday. For the Axemen, they’re on the road for a Friday night tilt in Moncton against the Aigles Bleus before facing the first place UNB Reds on Saturday in Fredericton.  

Moncton and UNB both have clinched playoff berths, while Acadia is currently four points ahead of Dalhousie for the final playoff spot in the AUS.  

Axemen fire 58 shots on net in loss

(Halifax, NS) – The Dalhousie Tigers beat the Acadia Axemen 5-3 Friday night at the Halifax Forum. 

 

After going down 3-0 in the first period, the Tigers rallied back off the efforts of Robbie Forbes (Oakville, NS) who made 55 saves and took home player of the game. 

 

23 seconds into the game, Acadia went onto the power play, but despite a Brady Burns (Port WIlliams, NS) shot that made it through traffic, which Forbes managed to get enough of his stick on it, the Axemen were kept at bay on the man advantage. 

 

After Dalhousie kept Acadia in their own end for a shift, the Axemen went on a full team break, and Hudson Wilson (Toronto, ON) put his second goal of the season past Forbes for the first of the game. 

 

A minute later an Acadia defenceman chipped the puck off of the glass, and Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, SK) beat the defenceman to the puck, went on a two on one with Ethan Ernst, and found Ernst who buried the goal. 

 

Dalhousie went on the power play, but after being left off the scoreboard for two minutes, 34 went on a breakaway, and made a heads up play to leave it in front of the crease for 23 who knocked it past Forbes. 

 

The Tigers gained momentum after Evan MacKinnon (Beaverbank, NS) hung onto the puck on a two on one, outwaited the Acadia defenceman and fed Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS) who sniped bardown. 

 

Dalhousie cut the lead to one heading into the second period after Drew Johnston (Saint John, NB) forced the defenceman to turn the puck over to Joseph Serpa (Cambridge, ON) whose shot bounced off the pad of Thomas Couture (Lévis, QC) to Shaun Miller (Enfield, NS), who put it into the back of the net.  

 

The Tigers wasted no time out of the new period tying things up. 

 

Dalhousie held a power play early in the new period, and less than a minute into the period, Jarett Baker’s (Black Rock, NS) shot from the point was tipped by Serpa, and ended up in the net. 

 

30 seconds later, before the announcer could make the crowd aware of the prior goal, the Tigers took the lead, when Barret Kirwin (Barrie, ON) sniped a shot from the top of the right hand circle past Couture far side. 

 

Acadia almost scored the equalizer, when Zack Jones (North Falmouth, Maine) shook Jackson Van de Leest (Kelowna, BC), drove into the crease,  but was taken down by the DAL defenders. 

 

Once the period finished, Dalhousie was headed into the last period up 4-3. 

 

Both teams worked themselves into the new period, and Acadia had a good chance when Tyler Deline’s (Peterberough, ON) point shot sprung out to an Acadian forward, but he shot it through the crease. 

 

WIth six minutes left in the game Acadia went on the power play, and despite seven shots on the man advantage, Dalhousie kept the puck out of their net. 

 

Out of the power play Acadia pulled their goalie, but they were not able to find the equalizer, as Serpa scored his second of the night to end the game 5-3. 

 

The Axemen will travel back home tomorrow to welcome STFX to Wolfville, and Dalhousie will cross Robie St. to take on Saint Mary’s. 

 

RECAP BY: Ethan Hunt 

PHOTOS BY: Nick Pearce 

Couture stops 36 shots, Tomilson & Nagy score for Acadia

WOLFVILLE – Jeremy Michel (Levis, QC) scored 47 seconds into overtime on Friday night to give the Moncton Aigles Bleus a 3-2 victory over the Acadia Axemen in front of 1,124 fans at Andrew H. McCain Arena.  

Acadia opened the scoring early, with Brendan Tomilson (Cameron, ON) scoring his first of the season.  

Moncton answered before the end of the first, where the score stood until the third period, with Jacob Dion (Sherbrooke, QC) scoring his first of the night.  

Dion’s second game 8:27 into the third period to give the Aigles Bleus the lead.  

That was answered just under three minutes later as Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, SK) scored his second of 2024 to knot the game 2-2.  

Thomas Couture (Levis, QC), the U SPORTS men’s hockey player of the week for the period ending January 7 made 26 saves in the loss, while Olivier Adam (Drummondville, QC) made 26 saves in the victory for Moncton.  

Saturday night Acadia welcomes the UNB Reds (21-0-0), while Moncton travels to Halifax to face the Saint Mary’s Huskies (11-10-0). Puck drop is 7 p.m. for both games.