Nagy, Henderson & McMaster score in win  

Wolfville, N.S. – Make it three in a row for the Acadia Axemen (9-12-2-1) as they defeated the Moncton Aigles Bleus (10-13-1-0) 3-2 on Friday night. The win means that the Axemen trail Moncton by two points in the standings for fifth place. 

The Subway First Star of the Night Adam McMaster (Beamsville, N.S.) scored the game-winner on a power-play Acadia 5:43 into the final period. 

McMaster stepped in from the left side of the blueline and lifted a soft wrist shot into the middle of the net. 

“The boys were definitely snapping around in practice, and it translated into success in the game,” commented McMaster on his powerplay goal. “Coaches have been stressing on the powerplay to shoot the puck.” 

Acadia jumped out to an early lead thanks to a front-of-the-net scramble goal 4:42 into the first period. 

Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, Sask.) scooped up a rebound with Moncton’s goalie Etienne Montpetit (Valleyfield, Que.) laying on the ice to make it 1-0. 

Moncton responded late in the period with a tying goal from the second star of the night Nathael Roy (Levis, Que.), who took advantage of a failed clearing attempt by the Axemen. 

Roy corralled the puck in the right corner of the offensive zone, came in tight on the goalie, and lifted a wrister into the top corner to make it 1-1. 

It was an offensively dominant period for the Axemen, as they held a 16-5 lead in shots heading into the second period. 

Moncton took their first and only lead of the game in the second period. 

Maxime Boudreau (Cap-Pete, N.B.) scored the goal for Moncton with 9:41 left in the period 

Boudreau stepped into the slot and fired a shot five-hole to make it 2-1. 

Acadia’s best scoring opportunity in the period came when Corson Hopwo (Duncan, B.C.) attempted “the Michigan” behind the Moncton net. 

At the end of the period, the shots were 26-19 in favour of Acadia. 

Acadia mounted their comeback in the third with a pair of goals in the first six minutes of the period. 

Eric Henderson (Kingsville, Ont.) tied the game 1:40 into the final frame after picking up a rebound in front of the net and sliding it past Montpetit to make it 2-2. 

It was only four minutes later that McMaster scored what would be the eventual game-winner. 

Moncton made a valiant effort to tie the game, including pulling their goalie in the final minute but came up short. 

Acadia goalie Conor McCollum (Pickering, Ont.) turned aside 27 of 29 shots on the night, while Etienne Montpetit stopped 37 of 40 shots. 

Acadia forward Keegan Stevenson (Aweres Township, Ont.) was named the third star of the night. 

Acadia returns to play tomorrow night against the REDS, while the Aigles Bleus head to Halifax to take on the Saint Mary’s Huskies. Both games start at 7:00 p.m. 

Provided by Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications Office 

Acadia wins pair of weekend games

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Make it two in a row for the Acadia Axemen (8-12-2-1) as they had a strong performance in a 4-2 win over the UPEI Panthers (14-7-1-1) on Saturday night. 

Subway First Star of the Night Adam McMaster (Beamsville, Ont.) scored the eventual game-winner with 6:50 left to play in the first period. 

“It’s definitely fun playing with a lead. We got off to a hot start at the beginning. We were not happy with the results after Christmas, but we got back to work in practice this week and the payoff was this weekend. It’s always nice to play at home,” noted McMaster after the game. 

Acadia struck first with a goal just under four minutes into the opening frame. 

Luke Zazula (Langley, B.C.) scored a beautiful marker after taking a feed from Bailey Peach. Zazula was left alone in the slot and wired a shot into the top left corner of the net to make it 1-0. 

UPEI responded with a power-play marker from Danil Antropov (Toronto, Ont.) roughly four minutes later. 

Antropov was left alone in the right corner, and he took advantage of his opportunity, taking a pass from Ryan Stephen (Stoney Creek, Ont.) for an easy goal. 

Acadia responded with a pair of goals to close out the period and take a commanding 3-1 lead into the second period. 

McMaster and Eric Henderson (Kingsville, Ont.) were the goal scorers for Acadia. 

McMaster broke in on a 2-on-1 with Liam Kidney (Enfield, N.S.), who made a beautiful cross-zone pass to give McMaster an easy tap-in to take the lead. 

Henderson scored two minutes later on a similar play, beating the UPEI goalie, Lucas Fitzpatrick (Lower Sackville, N.S.) at the five hole to give Acadia their 3-1 lead. 

The teams were tied 12-12 in shots at the end of the period. 

There was not much action in the second period, with Acadia adding a single goal in the final minutes of the frame to take a 4-1 lead into the final period. 

Despite having numerous power-play attempts in the second, it was actually the penalty kill that gave Acadia their goal. 

Corson Hopwo (Duncan, B.C.) scooped up the rebound from Peyton Hoyt’s (Fredericton, N.B) partial breakaway attempt and lifted it over the sprawling UPEI goalie to put his team up 4-1. 

By the end of the second, the shots were 24-20 for the Axemen. 

The second star of the night Kurtis Henry (Niagara Falls, Ont.) brought the Panthers back into the game with a power-play marker early in the third. 

Henry fired a shot from the point that fooled the Acadia goaltender Conor McCollum (Pickering, Ont.) to make it 4-2. 

That was as close as the Panthers would get. They pulled their goalie at the end of the game but were unable to beat the Acadia goalie again. 

Acadia forward Merrick Rippon (Ottawa, Ont.) took home the third star of the night honours. 

McCollum stopped 28 of 30 shots on the night, while his UPEI counterpart, Fitzpatrick, turned aside 26-30 shots on the night. 

The Axemen return to play next Friday against Moncton, while the Panthers travel to Dalhousie next Friday. 

Provided by Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications Office
Photos provided by Peter Oleskevich 

Nagy & Peach with the Acadia tallies

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – In the first of a five-game homestand, and the home-opener of 2023, the Acadia Axemen (6-12-1-1) came out with a victory. Acadia downed the Saint Mary’s Huskies (14-8-0-0) 2-1 on Friday night in Wolfville. 

Snapping a losing streak of three games, the Axemen trail Moncton and STFX by six points in the AUS standings in sixth place.  

“It was a huge, big game for us. We wanted to come out strong and play the way we know we can,” said AUS Subway First Star of the Game, Corson Hopwo (Duncan, B.C.). “We wanted to get the cycle going and get shots on net and run their d-men. So I think we played well tonight and we want to keep it going into tomorrow.” 

Despite holding the lead in shots for the opening frame, Acadia was down 1-0 by the end of the first period. 

The play was even between the teams throughout the period. Both sides had a number of chances, but it was Saint Mary’s who struck first. 

Saint Mary’s opened the scoring with 90 seconds left in the first frame. 

Charlie Dafonseca (Thornhill, Ont.) potted a goal for the Huskies on a quick pass from Nathan Dunkely (Campbellford, Ont.) to open the scoring. 

By the end of the first period, the shots were 9-8 in favour of Acadia. 

It was all Acadia in the second, as they responded with a pair of goals to take a 2-1 lead heading into the third frame. 

The Axemen tied the game on a goal from Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, Sask.), 12 minutes into the second period. 

Acadia used a strong breakout from their zone to score. Nagy took a pass from Nick Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, Ont.) and ripped a shot past the glove of Saint Mary’s goalie Jeremy Helvig (Kingston, Ont.). 

Bailey Peach (Falmouth, N.S.) gave Acadia their first lead of the game just over three minutes later. 

Peach sniped a shot from the slot to make it 2-1 for Acadia. 

At the end of the second period, Acadia held a commanding 23-13 lead in shots. 

Neither team was able to add to the scoresheet in a tight defensive third period. 

Acadia had a shot at getting an empty-netter late in the game, but they were unable to capitalize on the opportunity, making for a tense final minute of play. 

Acadia goalie Conor McCollum (Pickering, Ont.) turned aside 22 of 23 shots on the night, while his Saint Mary’s counterpart, Jeremy Helvig, stopped 31 of 33 shots on net. 

Acadia returns to play tomorrow night in Wolfville against the UPEI Panthers, while the Huskies host the UNB REDS next Friday night. 

Peach, Flaman, & Sellan score for Acadia

Antigonish, NS – The STFX X Men snapped a three-game losing streak with a convincing 6-3 victory over the visiting Acadia Axemen at the Charles V. Keating Centre on Saturday night. 

The Axemen came out quick in the first five minutes, holding the majority of possession and quality shots in the early going. STFX had a few chances in a row off a scramble during a powerplay later in the period but Acadia goalie Conor McCollum (Pickering, ON) and the stingy Axemen defence kept the score at zero though the first 10 minutes. 

It’s was STFX’s Adam Holwell (St. John’s, NFLD) who broke the tie, going high on the glove side with a clapper from the wing while shorthanded for his second goal of the season. Acadia however tied it up just over three minutes later, with Bailey Peach (Falmouth, NS) jumping on a loose puck in front of the X net.  

Josh Nelson (Lockport, IL) put the X-Men up again just over a minute later, showing off his hands off a feed from Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) and Liam Hawel (Arnprior, ON). Shots at the end of the period were 17-15 in favour of Acadia. 

Trott made the game 3-1 with just over six minutes gone in the second, knocking the puck out of the air off a Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) shot on the powerplay. STFX almost added to their lead with about five minute left in the period, but McCollum made a great cross crease save. 

The chippy play continued through most of the period, with the teams incurring 80 minutes in penalties over the first 40 minutes of play. Shots at the end of the second were 26 apiece as STFX held onto the 3-1 advantage. 

Acadia cut into the lead with almost four minutes gone in the third, with Jack Flaman (Vibank, SA) potting one off a shorted handed 2-on-1 from Luke Zazula (Langley, BC).  

About three minutes later, Connor Roberts (Owen Sound, ON) notched his fourth goal of the season and made it a two goal lead once again.  STFX added another three minutes later, with Roberts firing one that got stopped but Nelson banged in the rebound for the home team three minutes later.  

X-Men defenseman Clark Webster (Kensington, PEI) tallied his first goal of the season two minutes later, off a pass from Matthew Struthers (Milton, ON), but Acadia responded quickly, with Acadia’s Brendan Sellan (Orangeville, ON) making the score 6-3.  

STFX netminder Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) had 34 saves in the win while McCollum made 29 saves in the loss. Shots at the end of the game were 37-35 in favour of Acadia.  

Nelson’s two goal performance earned him first star and Subway player of the game honours, while Roberts picked up the second star and Acadia’s Flaman was named third star.  

The X-Men next take to the ice on January 13, when they will travel to Moncton. As for the Axemen, they will host St. Mary’s next Friday. 

-30- 

Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics 

Morgan Nauss scores for Acadia in loss

The Dalhousie Tigers Men’s hockey team welcomed the Acadia Axemen to the Halifax Forum on Friday night for both teams’ first game of the new year. 

The Tigers wasted no time bringing the offense to 2023 as Campbell Pickard (Halifax, NS) deposited a quick shot off a rebound, just 35 seconds in for a 1-0 lead. The Axemen would respond with several good shifts of their own, cycling the puck in the Tigers zone, which resulted in a great opportunity for Hudson Wilson (Toronto, ON).  

Acadia’s pressure continued, testing Dalhousie goaltender Connor Hicks (Kanata, ON), but he stood tall. With less than two minutes remaining in the opening frame, Acadia would head to the powerplay for the first time where some pretty passing saw Liam Kidney (Enfield, NS) get a great chance in front, but was denied by Hicks. Other than the physicality picking up, not much more would change through the end of the first, as Dalhousie took a 1-0 lead into the second, despite being heavily out-shot by the Axemen. 

Carrying their momentum forward, Acadia came out flying for the second period as Adam McMaster (Beamsville, ON) got a clear shot on net and the Axemen would draw a penalty for their second powerplay of the game. Coming ever so close Bailey Peach (Falmouth, NS) hit the crossbar with a laser from the blue line, but it remained a one-goal game. Finding some energy on the penalty kill, the Tigers responded with several shifts of their own in the Axemen zone, resulting in a beautiful wraparound goal by Matt Green (Hammonds Plains, NS) to make it 2-0 Dalhousie.  

Midway through the period, Acadia would head to the man advantage for a third time, but some big blocks by the Tigers defense kept it 2-0. Dalhousie’s powerplay would get their first opportunity with seven minutes left and saw both teams ring the puck off the post, but the Tigers held the two-goal lead into the third period.  

The Tigers would return to the powerplay to start the final period, but this time it was the Axemen penalty kill coming up big to hold strong. Dalhousie would go on to take two more penalties in the last frame, giving Acadia several opportunities leading down to four minutes remaining. The last powerplay would come to an abrupt end however as the Axemen took a major penalty. 

With the Acadia goalie pulled, the Tigers would add an empty net goal from Pickard, for his second of the game to make it 3-0. The Axemen would spoil the shutout, however, adding a goal from Morgan Nauss (Hammonds Plains, NS) with just seconds remaining in the game, for a final score of 3-1. 

Goaltender Connor Hicks took home the Subway Player of the Game award for the Dalhousie Tigers 

The Dalhousie Tigers won their second straight, improving to 3-15-0-1, and will look to keep it going against Saint Mary’s Saturday at 7:00 pm. 

Acadia drops to 5-11-2-1 and will look to bounce back when they travel to play the X-Men in Antigonish Saturday at 7:00 pm