Category: Game Recaps

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Owen MacDonald nets the OT winner

WOLFVILLE N.S. – The Acadia Axemen closed out the 2019 half of their season on a high note with a nail-biting overtime win over the visiting Moncton Aigles Bleus.

Acadia took advantage of a powerplay opportunity to get their first goal of the night. After some patient play from Owen MacDonald, he feathered a perfect pass across the ice to Jordy Stallard who ripped a wrist shot over the blocker of the Moncton goaltender. The goal came at 6:49 of the first and was also assisted by TJ Fergus.

The rest of the period remained quiet with solid goaltending from both Moncton’s Etienne Montpetit and Acadia’s Logan Flodell.

It was 1-0 Axemen after the first period.

Les Aigles Bleus were next to strike, tying up the game just before the halfway mark of the second period. After dangling through a pair of Acadia players creating a 3 on 1, Danick Crete eventually finished off the rush by slamming home a rebound at the side of the Acadia goal. Robbie Graham and Alexis Roy assisted.

The Axemen regained their lead at the 14:03 mark of the period on the powerplay. Right off of an offensive zone faceoff, the puck took a weird bounce off of a Moncton players’ helmet before glancing off the goalie for a rebound potted home by Cristiano DiGiacinto on the edge of the crease. Mason McCarty grabbed the assist.

The period closed with the Axemen on top 2-1.

Maurizio Colella would give the Axemen a two-goal cushion on the powerplay 5:59 into the third period. A long battle along the boards eventually came loose to Mason McCarty who fed Colella in the slot for a one-timer that beat Montpetit to the blocker. Cristiano DiGiacinto had the second assist.Read more »

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Flodell stops 40 shots for the win

WOLFVILLE N.S. – After a quick back and forth game of hockey, the Acadia Axemen won their third straight game with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the U SPORTS No. 1 ranked UNB Reds.

Acadia was the first team to strike, taking advantage of a powerplay opportunity. Alexander Lepkowski buried his second of the season after finding a loose rebound from a Johnny Corneil shot and flipping the puck over the downed goalie and into the net.

The goal celebrations were short-lived as the Reds answered right back just under a minute later with a goal of their own. After Alexandre Goulet ripped a shot off the post, Olivier LeBlanc was in the right place to gather the rebound and stuff the puck in the open Acadia goal. Stephen Anderson also assisted.

The game was tied 1-1 after the first.

It took only 24 seconds into the second period for the Axemen to reinstate their lead. A speedy two-on-one rush was ended by Eric Henderson driving the net hard and having Maurizio Colella’s pass bounce off of him and past UNB goalie Rylan Parenteau.

Jack Flaman was next on the scoresheet for the Axemen, scoring 6:27 into the frame. He was sprung on a breakaway following a blocked shot and squeezed a quick wrister through the netminder.

The Reds responded with a goal of their own under a minute later. Matthew Boucher received a perfect backdoor pass from Alexandre Goulet for an easy tap-in to bring UNB within a goal.Read more »

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Carty with win in net for Axemen

WOLFVILLE N.S. – The Acadia Axemen were led by a Cristiano Digiacinto’s hat-trick to cap off a successful week of hockey with a 3-1 win against the UPEI Panthers Saturday night in Wolfville.

In what was a fast and physical first period, neither team was able to get the upper hand on the opposition. Thanks to some stellar goaltending from both UPEI’s Simon Hofley and Acadia’s Dawson Carty, who had 18 and 13 saves respectively, the game remained deadlocked as the teams headed to their dressing rooms.

UPEI’s Owen Headrick opened the scoring with a wicked top corner one-timer set up by Kyle Maksimovich on a 5 on 3 powerplay. The goal came at 6:59 of the second period and was also assisted by Darian Pilon. The rest of the period saw no more goals, but lots of chances at both ends of the rink.

The Panthers lead 1-0 after two.

Acadia was quick to tie up the game in the third. Just 4:34 into the frame Cristiano Digiacinto found some real estate in the slot and buried a quick Mason McCarty pass into the bottom right corner. Tate Olsen had the second assist on the goal.Read more »

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Stallard leads the way with 2 goals and an assist

WOLFVILLE N.S. – The Acadia Axemen got back to their winning ways after defeating the U SPORTS No. 8 ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies, by a score of 5-2.

The Axemen were the first to find the back of the net, with the first goal coming just 1:01 into the first period. Johnny Corneil was the opening goal scorer after getting his own rebound in front of the goal and beating SMU goalie Eric Brassard to the low glove side. Ross MacDougall and Cristiano DiGiacinto picked up the assists.

The second goal came only 1:24 after the first when Axeman Jordy Stallard buried his sixth of the season when a 2 on 1 rush ended with a perfect shot to the low glove, off the post and in. Garrett McFadden had the assist on the goal

The Axemen lead 2-0 after the first twenty.

It was just over halfway through the second frame when Nick Welsh scored to bring the Huskies within a goal. He received a nice pass on the left side of the offensive zone before beating Axemen goalie Logan Flodell to the far side with a quick wrister. Jonathan Hampton and Mitchell Balmas assisted.

Just 40 seconds later the Axemen struck back, as Jordy Stallard jammed home his second of the night after a scramble in front of the SMU net concluded with an easy loose puck tap-in. Mason McCarty and TJ Fergus were credited with assists on the tally.

With 2:21 remaining in the period TJ Fergus scored his first of the season on the powerplay.Read more »

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Acadia 3rd period comeback falls short

 

(Halifax, NS) – In Saturday night men’s hockey action, the Dalhousie Tigers hosted the Acadia Axemen at the Halifax Forum. Two goals over a seven-second span proved to be the difference in a 5-3 Tigers win.Β Β 

The Tigers controlled the puck early as they created an offensive chance in Acadia’s end. They were able to apply pressure down low which led to a wrap around chance butΒ LoganΒ FlodellΒ (Regina, SK)Β made a good save to prevent the goal.Β 

The Tigers did not let up on pressure as they were able to create most of the scoring opportunities to start the period. After a blocked shot, Andrew ShewfeltΒ (Dartmouth, NS)Β was able to pick up the loose puck andΒ putΒ it in the net for the early lead.Β 

After the goal, the Axemen were able to try and gain momentum back after the Tigers were handed an interference call. They were able to put several pucks on net howeverΒ Connor Hicks (Kanata, ON)Β remained steady.Β Β 

After some neutral zone play, the Tigers were given a power play opportunity of their own. Although they were down a man, it was the Axemen who had the best scoring chance on the power play asΒ EricΒ HendersonΒ (Kingsville, ON)Β was sprung on a breakaway. He came in with plenty of speed but put the puck just past the net.Β 

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McCarty scores the winner for Acadia

Antigonish, NS – TheΒ U SPORTS No. 10 ranked AcadiaΒ AxemenΒ skated to a close 4-3 victory over the StFX X-Men Friday night at the StFX Keating Centre. The teamsΒ didn’tΒ disappoint the 800 fans in attendance as it was a hard-fought, close game down to the final whistle.Β 

The X-Men opened the scoring early on a power play marker from defenseman Santino Centorame (Mississauga, ON) as he picked up a nice cross-ice pass from Bryson Cianfrone (Stoney Creek, ON) and deposited it past LoganΒ FlodellΒ (Regina, SK) in the Acadia net 2:19 into the first period.Β 

TheΒ AxemenΒ evened it up five minutes later when LiamΒ MaaskantΒ (Clinton, ON) scored an unassisted goal off a screen shot. He followed up on his own rebound off a point shot that JosephΒ RaaymakersΒ (Chatham, ON) made the initial save but the X-MenΒ couldn’tΒ clear the rebound.Β 

Both teams saw time in the penalty box in a scrappy first period. X-Men forward AnthonyΒ DifrusciaΒ (Thorold, ON) left the iceΒ after a hard hit but returned before the period was over.Β 

Regan Spears (Port Hood, NS) had a good scoring chance at the end of an X-Men power play but his shot on net missed wide.Β 

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Flodell with 31 saves in loss

(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB Reds rallied after a rare home ice, regulation time loss on Friday, beating the Acadia Axemen 4-3 on SaturdayΒ afternoon.

Tyler Boland (St. John’s, NL) scored a pair of goals in the win, including with winner, with just 47 seconds to play. He was named the Subway Player of the Game.Β 

“They tied it up and the building kind of lost a bit of life,” said Boland. “So just to get that one for us and get the building going again was pretty special.”Β 

James McEwan (Chatham, ON) opened the scoring with his second goal of the season at 8:29 of the first period.Β 

CristianoΒ DigiacintoΒ (Hamilton, ON) tied it 1-1 at 14:53, but Boland’s first ofΒ twoΒ followed 54 seconds later and UNB led 2-1 after 20 minutes.Β 

The Reds led the Axemen 3-1 heading into the third period, but an early goal by Maurizio Colella (Tottenham, ON) cut the Reds lead.Β 

From there, both teams were fighting hard for two points.Β 

Garrett McFadden (Kincardine, ON) scored for Acadia with 3:30 to play, tying the score 3-3.Β 

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Corneil with a goal and an assist in win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The U SPORTS No. 4 ranked Acadia Axemen extend their winning streak to nine games and improve to 9-1 with a convincing 4-1 win over the visiting StFX X-Men.

“I thought we played really well. We didn’t put up with the stuff they like to do after the whistle. That’s a big thing with X, they want to get on you after the whistle. I thought we kept our composure and our focus. We took it to them early on and we just kept going,” noted Jack Flaman who had the empty netter to put the game out of reach with just over a minute remaining in the game.

The opening period saw no goals or even close calls until the X-Men struck with 33 seconds remaining in the first frame. Β Adam Laishram scored an unassisted goal as he skated past Logan Flodell and pulled off a wrap-around goal that gave StFX the lead heading into the locker room.

With Acadia doubling StFX with 10-5 shots on net in the first period, the Axemen tied the game at the 7:51 mark of the second period when Cristiano Digiacinto scored his seventh goal of the season after a beautiful across the top of the crease pass from teammate Jordy Stallard.

The Axemen grabbed a 2-1 lead with just under three minutes remaining in the second period. With the X-Men on the powerplay, Axeman Garrett McFadden won a race for a loose puck in the neutral zone and was pulled down as he raced on the breakaway. McFadden would not fail, taking a high shot over the blocker side of Joseph Raaymakers on the penalty shot that followed.

With a 2-1 lead heading into the final frame, the Axemen extended the lead to 3-1 on a Johnny Corneil one-timer shot from a feed from the corner from Stephen Harper. Corneil’s goal at 8:37 of the third period gave the Axemen comfortable lead into the closing of the game.Read more »

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Stallard nets game winner for Axemen

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan

By Thomas Becker

The UPEI Panthers failed to protect a 2-0 lead for the second time in a week, as the Acadia Axemen poured in three unanswered goals in the third period to steal a 3-2 win.

Rodney Southam kick started the surge early in the decisive frame, followed by a quick goal by Mason McCarty and the eventual game-winner by Jordy Stallard at 11:15. UPEI’s Kameron Kielly led all scorers with a pair of goals.

The Axemen (8-1) felt they played well enough through the first two periods to carry a lead into the third, but couldn’t solve netminder Simon Hofley, who finished with 24 saves.

“We had a few unlucky bounces early, but we just stuck with it, kept pounding shots and we knew our time would come,” said Stallard, who was named the Subway Player of the Game.

The Panthers (1-5-1) came out with a lot of energy looking to snap their three-game skid and broke through at 11:49, when the puck cycled to Kielly in the right circle where he wired a shot top shelf for the power play marker. Read more »