Category: Game Recaps

UNB takes Game 1 of Subway AUS Men’s Hockey Championship final series with 8-2 win over Acadia

(FREDERICTON, N.B.) – UNB put on an offensive show on a busy night at the Aitken Centre taking the first game of the 2015 Subway AUS final series over the Acadia Axemen by a score of 8-2 in front of a paid attendance of 3,119.

“We’ve been close, but it’s nice to break through,” said UNB’s head coach Gardiner MacDougall on the goal-scoring outburst.

Acadia won the opening faceoff but things would go down-hill quickly for the Axemen as UNB would score on their first two shots of the game.

The first, a backhand shot from Philippe Maillet (Lachenaie, Que.) on the power play and the second from Cam Brace (Toronto, Ont.) who slid the puck under the pad of starting goalie Brandon Glover (Victoria, B.C.).

UNB added another power play goall to tally eight minutes into the first period as Maillet scored his second goal in as many shots.

Goalie Robert Steeves (Moncton, N.B.) stepped in for the Axemen at that point and went on to play well in relief. Acadia turned up the intensity after the goalie change and managed to capitalize on one of many UNB turnovers in the period with a goal from Travis Randall (Twillingate, N.L.) that would bring Acadia within two goals.

From that point, the Axemen had momentum on their side and they were able to produce several nice scoring chances. UNB, however was able to grab it back when Dana Fraser (Tatamagouche, N.S.) got into the opposition zone on an odd man rush where he fed Jordan Murray (Moncton, N.B.) for the Varsity Reds’ fourth goal of the game.
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Acadia Punches Ticket To CIS University Cup Tournament

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The CIS No. 5 ranked Acadia Axemen topped the No. 3 Saint Mary’s Huskies 3-2 in game five of the best of five semi-final series, punching their ticket to not only an AUS championship best of three series against the UNB Varsity Reds, but also they will have their second consecutive “kick at the can” at this year’s CIS University Cup championship held in Halifax.

In a sold out Andrew H. McCain Arena, the Huskies drew blood first on a goal by Gerrad Grant (Halifax, N.S.) on the man advantage at 5:41 of the first period.

Saint Mary’s forward Gerrard Grant put a back door pass from Stephen Johnston (Guelph, Ont.) past Brandon Glover (Victoria, B.C.). Steven Beyers (Orangeville, Ont.) added the second assist on the play.

Midway through opening period, a Huskie goal was disallowed due to a kicking motion, keeping Acadia within one.Read more »

Axemen defeat SMU 2-1

The Acadia Axemen came to Halifax on Tuesday night on a mission – to win game #4, and force a fifth and deciding game in this series, on Thursday night at home in Wolfville. Mission accomplished tonight.

The Axemen downed the Saint Mary’s Huskies by the slimmest of margins, in a tight, nail biting 2-1 victory.

The Axemen were playing without 1^st year high scoring forward Zach Franko, who left Sundays game in the 2^nd period with an undisclosed injury. The injury list grew when Acadia also lost the services of 5^th year defenseman Chris Owens, early in the opening period, as he left the ice with a lower body injury and did not return. SMU was playing without one of their regular defenseman in Alex Cord, who was suspended for the game.

Saint Mary’s opened the scoring in the first period at 7:55 when 4^th year forward Matt Tipoff banged home a goal from just outside the crease. SMU was on the powerplay at the time, with Steven Shipley & Stephen Johnston picked up assists on the goal.

The Axemen answered back at 14:24 with their own powerplay marker. With the Huskies two men short, Brett Thompson had the puck at the point and skated in a few strides before wiring the puck past Anthony Peters to square the game at 1. Assists on the goal went to Matthew Pufahl & Remy Giftopoulos. That was the way the period ended with SMU going 1 for 2 on the powerplay, and Acadia 1 for 4. The Axemen outshot SMU 12-8 in the period, but both Anthony Peters and Acadia’s Brandon Glover made some outstanding saves for their respective teams.Read more »

Huskies Lead Best of 5 Series 2-1

Game 3, of the best of 5 AUS semi-final playoff series, took place on Sunday night at the Halifax Forum, with the Saint Mary’s Huskies playing host to the Acadia Axemen. When the smoke cleared and the final buzzer went off, it was the Huskies winning by a score of 4-0 to take a 2-1 series lead. From here on out, it’s a win or done situation for the Axemen as they will need to take Tuesday’s game 4 in order to push the series back home to Wolfville for a game 5.

The two teams played a scoreless first period, with Acadia firing 9 shots on goal and SMU with 8, but both Brandon Glover for Acadia, and Anthony Peters for SMU, stood tall in their respective net stopping all comers. Both teams were 0 for 2 on the powerplay in the opening frame.

The second period saw SMU open the scoring at 4:33, when Bradley Greene came out from behind the net and shovelled a pass to the far side of the net, to wide open teammate Michael Curtis who tapped the pass home.

At 11:44, with Huskies defenceman Alex Cord off for checking from behind, his teammates were able to score shorthanded, when Stephen Johnston was stopped by Glover, the puck appeared to be under the goaltender’s pad, out of sight, but Jamie Doornbosch came in and knocked at the pad pushing the puck into the net. To many onlookers surprise, the goal counted and Saint Mary’s took a 2-0 lead into the dressing room after 2 period. Acadia outshot SMU 14-9 in the period; Acadia was 0 for 3 on the man advantage in the 2^nd.Read more »

Giftopoulos nets winner, 4-3 Final

The Acadia Axemen lost Game One of their AUS semi-final series to the Saint Mary’s Huskies 3-2 in double overtime. Another loss would almost prove fatal. Forced to win three games against a Saint Mary’s squad that boasted a stingy Anthony Peters in goal would prove next to impossible.

The Axemen hung on for a 4-3 win in Wolfville Thursday evening, evening their series at one game apiece. It was another classic between these two squads, with Anthony Peters and Brandon Glover of Acadia putting on a collective goaltending clinic. Both made spectacular saves throughout the game. Neither team was able to seize control of the game, and it took an Axemen goal with 2:40 remaining in the game to squeak past the Huskies.

The first two periods of the game solved nothing, as both teams traded goals in both frames. Bradley Greene opened the scoring at the 15:39 mark, only to watch as Brett Thompson tied the affair with a penalty shot goal at 17:47. Glover stopped four of five shots in the frame, as Peters knocked aside 17 of 18 shots.Read more »

Franko with a pair of goals for Acadia

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The opening game of the best of five semi-final series between the CIS No. 3 ranked Acadia Axemen and the No. 5 ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies was decided after two overtime periods.

Huskie Francis Menard (Embrun, Ont.) knocked in the game winner just over 6 minutes into the second overtime period to give Saint Mary’s a 3-2 win and a 1-0 lead in the best of five series.

With a 13-8 shots on goal advantage for the host Axemen, neither team could score in the opening period.

Not until 5:39 of the second period on the powerplay did the game record its first goal by first year forward Zach Franko (Winnipeg, Man.) who scored his first of two goals for Acadia.Read more »

Acadia Earns 1st Round Playoff Bye

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – With a large gathering on hand for the official opening of Andrew H. McCain Arena and a quarterfinal playoff bye on the line, the CIS No. 3 ranked Axemen could feel the energy of a hopeful crowd of 1996.

It was a timely effort by the Axemen who had yet to beat the StFX in three regular season match ups. Acadia saved their best performance for last as they rallied late in the final period to grab a 5-4 victory over the X-Men by scoring two goals in the remaining 90 seconds to punch their ticket to a second round berth.

On a rare 2-on-0 break at the eight minute mark of the opening period, rookie Boston Leier (Saskatoon, Sask.), decided to shoot the puck rather than pass it, sniping a shot off the cross bar to give Acadia a 1-0 lead. Tyler Ferry (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Taylor Makin (Lethbridge, Alta.) received assists on the play.

Under a minute later, X-Men forward Trey Lewis (Aldouane, N.B.) scored his second goal of the season on a 2-on-1 break that tied the game at one.

The X-Men took the first of three leads when Michael Kirkpatrick (North Sydney, N.S.) scored on the powerplay at 13:30 of the first. Read more »

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Dalhousie Tigers grabbed an upset win over the CIS No. 3 Acadia Axemen with three unanswered goals to give the Tigers a 5-2 victory. A win over the Tigers would have guaranteed the Axemen a quarterfinal bye, but now Acadia will have to win or tie StFX tomorrow night to capture second place in the AUS final standings.

After an opening ceremony that paid tribute to our Canadian Forces and graduating Acadia Axemen hockey players along with a puck dropping by former SMILE member and an Axemen follower for over 20 years Nick Vidito, the Tigers were quick to jump on the scoreboard.

Second year forward Andrew Rieder (Regina, Sask.) buried a perfectly placed wrist shot from in tight over the shoulder of Brandon Glover (Victoria, B.C.) to give the Tigers an early 1-0 lead only one minute and eleven seconds into the opening frame.

Just over 11 minutes later, the Tigers extended the lead to two on the powerplay when Mike Evelyn (Ottawa, Ont.) scored his sixth goal of the season.

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Thompson, with his 17th, stands up as the game winner

The Acadia Axemen (18-4-3) are one step closer to securing a first round AUS playoff bye with a tight 1-0 victory over the U de M Aigles Bleus (10-13-2) on Sunday afternoon. The game was originally to be played on Saturday night, but due to inclement weather in Moncton, the game was moved to Sunday.

In what was a very fast and exciting game to watch, with end to end action, very few penalties, and minimal whistles, the teams showed off great speed and skill, but the most important stat on the day came from the goaltenders. Acadia’s Brandon Glover turned away all 27 shots he faced from the Aigles Bleus, while Brandon Thibeau stopped 37 of 38 shots directed his way by the Axemen.

The only shot to beat Thibeau came off the stick of Axemen sniper Brett Thompson, who scored his 17^th on the season at 13:32 of the 2^nd period, with assists going to rookie Sam Fioretti and 2^nd year defenceman Geoff Schemitsch.

Acadia was 0 for 2 on the powerplay, while Moncton was 0 for 3. The Acadia win snapped a three game win-streak that Moncton was riding entering the matchup.

Following the win, Coach Burns had the following to say about his team, “Very proud of our effort this weekend. This is a tough road trip playing against these two teams (UNB and Moncton). They are both playing well right now.”

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Acadia earns point, takes season series 3-1

The CIS #2 ranked Acadia Axemen were in Fredericton Friday night to take on the #3 ranked UNB Varsity Reds, and the game did not disappoint. Just 6 days after playing on Acadia’s home ice, which saw the Axemen come away with a 4-1 victory, UNB turned the tides on the visitors with a 2-1 overtime win.

With the win, UNB moves 3 points up on Acadia for top spot in the AUS; while Acadia earned an important point as they vie for one of the two spot spots which earn a first round playoff bye in the AUS. The Axemen now lead St. FX and SMU by 4 points with 3 games remaining on the season.

Tonight’s game saw UNB open the scoring with the only goal of the first period at 15:01, when Jordan Murray was able to slam home a shot on a broken scrambled play. The Varsity Reds and Axemen each had 8 shots in the opening period, with Acadia’s Brandon Glover and UNB’s David Shantz both standing tall in their respective team’s net.

Acadia came back and evened things up on the scoreboard in the second, as Brett Thompson was able to find Mike Cazzola to the side of the UNB net, and Cazzola shoveled the puck by Shantz to knot the score at one just 1:28 into the frame. Alex Beaton picked up the secondary assist on Cazzola’s 14^th on the season. And that was the end of the scoring in regulation.Read more »