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.