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. 

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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