Peyton Hoyt scores two goals in the Axemen loss

Antigonish, NS – A three-goal spree in the opening five minutes of the third period helped the STFX X-Men defeat the Acadia Axemen 4-2 on Saturday night at the Charles V Keating Centre. The match was a warm-up of sorts for the two teams, who will face each other in the AUS playoffs starting on Wednesday.  

STFX forward and Subway Player of the game Matthew Struthers (Milton, ON) had two goals and an assist on the night, while second star was X-Men defender Patrick Kyte (Pembroke, ON), with a goal and two assists. Third star was STFX forward Matthew Philip (Ilderton, ON), who put in quality minutes for the home team.  

The X-Men carried much of the early play, gaining the offensive zone effectively, and barring any Acadia shots for the first eight minutes. Acadia picked up the pace midway through the period and STFX goalie Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) had to make a couple of strong saves while on the penalty kill.  

The teams exchanged some big hits throughout the period and a scum with around six minutes left to play led to a few roughing penalties and a STFX powerplay, but the home team wasn’t able to capitalize. 

Acadia opened the scoring at the 2:50 mark, with Peyton Hoyt (Lincoln, NB) poking one home off a pass from Brendan Sellan (Hanover, ON). The period ended with Acadia leading in shots 9-8.  

An Acadia penalty three seconds into the second period made it a four-on-four situation that turned into a STFX powerplay that lead to a couple of close chances but Acadia goaltender Zachary Paputsakis (Rockland, ON) stood his ground.  

Acadia found themselves with a 5-on-3 advantage about midway through the period, but it was Kyte who found the back of the net, finishing off a shorthanded play from Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) and Struthers.  

Shots at the end of the second period were 19-17 in favour of Acadia as the game was knotted 1-1. 

The beak to beak action continued in the third, and Struthers opened the scoring just over a minute in on the powerplay, with Brendan Clavelle (Kapuskasing, ON) and Liam Hawel (Arnprior, ON) assisting. STFX went on the powerplay again a minute later, and Struthers wired home a one-timer, from Hawel and Kyte.  

X-Men forward Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) made it 4-1 with around five minutes gone, tucking home a nifty backhand, with Kyte assisting.  

Hoyt got one back for the Axemen late in the period, his 2nd of the game, with Morgan Nauss (Hammonds Plains, NS) and Zack Jones (North Falmouth, MA) assisting, and the teams continued to exchange less-than-pleasantries for the rest period.  

Shots at the end of the game were 33-26 in favour of STFX and the teams posted 104 penalty minutes on 22 infractions. 

The X-Men have home ice advantage in the AUS quarterfinal round after finishing in fourth place in the AUS standings with a record of 16-13-1. The quarter-final playoff series (best 2-of-3) will start Wednesday, Feb. 15th at STFX as the same two teams will be back on the ice at the STFX Keating Centre. 

Acadia wrapped up regular season play with 11-16-3 record in fifth place. The AUS will announce the complete quarter-final playoff schedule on Sunday. Game 2 will be on the road at Acadia, and Game 3 (if necessary) back in Antigonish. 

UPEI and Moncton will meet in the other AUS quarter-final series with first place UNB and second place Saint Mary’s awaiting the quarter-final winners for the best 3-of-5 semifinal playoff rounds. 

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics 

Nagy with 3 points in Acadia win

Wolfville, N.S. – It was a big win on Friday’s Seniors Night for the Acadia Axemen, as they defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 4-3. Acadia came out on top despite giving up three power-play goals. 

 

Subway First Star of the Night Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, Sask.) potted a pair of goals for Acadia in the opening period. Those two goals ended up being the difference maker in the game.  

 

Nagy opened the scoring for Acadia early in the first when he grabbed a rebound in front of the net at 4:37 of the first period and put it away to make it 1-0.  

 

Doubling up, Nagy added his second marker of the night at 8:03 of the first period.  

 

Nagy was parked in front of the net, where he took a pass from Keegan Stevenson (Aweres Township, Ont.), who was working behind the net to free the puck. Nagy fired a quick snapshot past the Tigers goalie to make it 2-0.  

 

However, Dalhousie answered with a goal of their own on the power-play late in the opening period. 

 

Campbell Pickard (Halifax, N.S.) had an easy tap in after Cameron Thompson (Victoria, B.C.) broke in from the neutral zone to set up the power play and pulled the Acadia’s goalie Conor McCollum to one side of the net. 

 

At the end of the first period, the shots were 11-5 for Acadia.  

 

While there were chances on both sides through the period, it was late in the second before things got interesting.  

 

Acadia added to their lead late in the second period thanks to Matt McKim (St. John’s, Nfld.).  

 

Nagy came out from behind the net and set up McKim for his first goal as an Acadia Axemen.  

 

Dalhousie had a response shortly after thanks to another power-play marker.  

 

Jarrett Baker (Black Rock, N.S.) wired a wrist shot high blocker side to pull within one goal of tying, making it 3-2.  

 

That is where the score stood heading into the third.  

 

By the end of the second period, the shots were 23-12 for Acadia.  

 

Third star Brendan Sellan (Hanover, Ont.) was the difference maker for Acadia. His power-play goal 8:08 into the third period ended up being the eventual game-winner for Acadia. 

 

Sellan took a feed from Nick Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, Ont.) while parked near the left side of the crease. He chipped the puck over the goalie’s left pad to make it 4-2.  

 

Dalhousie made one final stab at a comeback with Evan MacKinnon (Dartmouth, N.S.) adding another power-play marker for the Tigers.  

 

MacKinnon snuck a shot past McCollum, narrowly beating him high right side.  

 

That was as close as the Tigers would get, despite a pulled goalie at the end of the game.  

 

Acadia’s Conor McCollum turned aside 15 of 18 shots on the night, while his Dalhousie counterpart Alexander MacDonald stopped 26 of 30 shots.  

 

The Axemen improve to 11-15-2-1 and slip into fifth place, while the Tigers drop to 6-21-1-1 and will make post season play. 

 

Acadia closes out their regular season tomorrow night against STFX, while the Tigers host Saint Mary’s for their last game of the season. The puck drops for both games at 7 pm. 

 

Provided by Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications Office 

Friday, February 10th @ 7pm

Deakin-Poot scores a pair, McCollum stops 30 shots

Story courtesy of UdeM Athletics

The second period was again problematic for the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (11-15-1-1=24pts, 5th position) as they allowed three goals and then loss 4-1 against the Acadia University Axemen (10-15-2-1=23pts, 6th position) in an Atlantic University Sport men’s hockey game Saturday at the J.-Louis-Lévesque Arena on the Moncton campus in front of 520 spectators.  

 

With this victory, the Axemen moved one point closer to the Aigles Bleus in the standings with two games to play in the regular season. The Blue and Gold opened the scoring in the first period at 10:13 by a Vincent Deslauriers (Remy Anglehart, Denis Toner) goal, which allowed the team to keep the lead during the rest of the period. The second period was marked by the Axemen with three goals and led 13-5 in the shots on goal. The advantage started with a first goal at 4:48 by Nick Deakin-Poot. The visitors repeated that feat with two goals in less than a minute by Liam Kidney and Peyton Hoyt at 15:30 and 16:02. The end of the second period ended 3-1 in favor of Acadia.  

 

At the end of the game and with the goalkeeper replaced by an attacker, the Axemen scored their fourth in an empty net by Nick Deakin-Poot with his second of the game. The Aigles Bleus tried everything in the final minutes of the third with a 5-3 advantage without being able to break through the defense and goalie Conor McCollum who saw 31 shots for the victory. Félix-Anthony Ethier received 26 shots in the loss.  

 

The Aigles Bleus play on the road against the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Axemen host at home the Dalhousie Tigers on Friday.