McMaster & Hopwo score in Axemen loss

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Penalty trouble killed the Acadia Axemen’s chance at a win on Saturday night, as the team fell 4-2 to the StFX X-Men. StFX had a total of nine power-plays on the night and they capitalized on two of them.

Subway First Star of the Night Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, N.S.) scored the game-winning goal and added a pair of assists for StFX.

Acadia jumped out to an early lead, which turned out to be their only one of the game, on a marker from the second star of the night Adam McMaster (Beamsville, Ont.).

McMaster cut into the offensive zone and wired a wrist shot into the top right corner of the net to make it 1-0 with 17:29 left to play in the opening frame.

However, the Axemen ran into serious penalty trouble in the first frame and gave the X-Men an opportunity to put up two power-play goals.

Josh Nelson (Lockport, IL) scored both goals in the first period for StFX, roughly five minutes apart from each other.

Nelson’s first goal came on a wrist shot from the slot, while his second was from a scramble in front of the net where the puck bounced off the goalie, then the post, and then in.

By the end of the first period, Acadia was down 15-12 in shots.

The second period saw chances on both sides, but Acadia was unable to tie the game.

StFX extended their lead late in the period when Jacob Hudson came out of the penalty box and broke in on an odd-man scoring chance. Hudson buried a wrist shot low glove side to make it 3-1.

By the end of the second period, Acadia held a 24-22 shot lead, despite trailing in the game.

The Axemen made things interesting late in the third after they notched a powerplay goal.

Corson Hopwo (Duncan, B.C.) came out of the corner, protected the puck in front of the net and then flipped the puck over the StFX goalie to make it 3-2.

Liam Hawel (Arnprior, Ont.) sealed the victory for StFX with an empty-net goal with 33 seconds left to play.

Axemen goaltender Zachary Paputsakis turned aside 30 of 33 shots on the night, while his StFX counterpart and third star of the night Joseph Raaymakers stopped 40 of 42 shots.

Acadia drops to 3-5-1 and returns to play on Tuesday, Nov. 8 against the UNB REDS at 7:00 pm. The X-Men improve to 4-5-0-0 and host UPEI on Wednesday, Nov. 9 – at 7:00 pm start.

RECAP By: Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

Sellan scores 2 goals in win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – It was an offensive explosion for the Acadia Axemen (3-4-1) on Friday night, as they snapped their four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers (1-7-0).

Acadia had a strong offensive night, outshooting the Tigers 43-18 and dominating offensive zone play throughout the game.

Four Axemen players scored their first goal of the season, including rookies Corson Hopwo (Duncan, B.C.) and Brendan Sellan (Hanover, Ont.), who scored two on the night.

The first period saw a pair of Acadia rookies net their first career U SPORTS goal.

Brendan Sellan was the first rookie to score. Sellan redirected a slap pass from Jack Flaman, who fired the puck toward the Tigers’ net from inside the blueline, to make it 1-0.

Corson Hopwo added to Acadia’s lead, and nabbed his first university career goal, just under two minutes later on a wrist shot that he buried upstairs on the glove side past the Tigers goalie Connor Hicks (Kanata, Ont.).

Subway First Star of the Game, Liam Kidney (Enfield, N.S.) stole the puck off a Tigers player’s stick at center ice and brought the puck into the offensive zone before handing it off to Hopwo.

“The guys were talking before the game about coming out hot and playing against this team in our rink and definitely exploiting them with the space on the ice and that showed earlier on in the game,” said Kidney after the game.

After taking a timeout early in the period, Dalhousie replied with a power-play marker from Jarrett Baker (Black Rock, N.S.).

Baker fired a quick shot from the slot that beat the Acadia goalie up high to cut the deficit in half for the Tigers.

However, Acadia extended their lead late in the opening period with their first power-play goal in six games from Orlando Mainolfi (Richmond Hill, Ont.).

Acadia held a dominant 14-5 lead in shots by the end of the first.

Keegan Stevenson (Aweres Township, Ont.) added to the lead for the Axemen early in the second. Stevenson took a pass from Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, Sask.) and deked out Hicks before sliding a backhander into the net while falling.

The shots were heavily in Acadia’s favour by the end of the second, as the Axemen held a 31-14 lead going into the final frame.

Acadia continued to dominate the play in the third. Riley Webb (Stoney Creek, Ont.) added a fifth goal for Acadia on a weird bounce in the third.

Dalhousie added a power-play marker from Logan Johnston (Fredericton, N.B.) late in the third, but it was too late to make a difference in the outcome of the game. Johnston was named the Second Star of the Game.

Acadia goalie Conor McCollum (Pickering, Ont.) turned aside 16 of the 18 shots he faced on the night, while Hicks stopped 38 of 43 shots.

Acadia has two home games in the four days, as they take on the StFX X-Men on Saturday, Nov. 5, and the UNB Varsity Reds on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm.

Contributed by Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

McCollum makes 26 saves in Axemen loss

By Thomas Becker of UPEI Athletics

The Panthers recorded their fourth straight win Saturday night after shutting out the Acadia Axemen 3-0. 

Darian Pilon, Ryan Stepien and TJ Shea each found the back of the net in the win, while goaltender Jonah Capriotti turned aside 21 shots for his first shutout of the season. 

“The boys are really confident right now. We’re working together and we believe in each other,” Pilon said. 

After a slow start to the game that was highlighted by the strength of each team’s defence, the Panthers (5-3-0) finally broke the deadlock at 11:42 of the second period. On the play, Acadia (2-4-1) tried to clear the puck from their zone, but Pilon nabbed the puck from the air and placed a beautiful backhand shot by goaltender Conor McCollum for the power play goal. 

Defense and goaltending continued to shine throughout the second period and most of the third before UPEI delivered the final blow. After taking a big check with four minutes left to play, Stepien stayed in the play and got the puck back along the side of the net, where he roofed a shot over the goalie’s shoulder to make it 2-0. 

As McCollum tried to skate to the bench for the six-on-five opportunity, the Axemen turned the puck over in the neutral zone, where Shea gathered it and skipped a shot in the open cage for the 3-0 win. 

“Our team has been in tune with being prepared and ready to go for each game,” Pilon said. “When we’re playing our game, no one can really play with us.” 

The Panthers’ next test comes Friday night when they take on the visiting UNB Reds, while the Axemen return home where they’ll welcome the Dalhousie Tigers. 

McMaster & Kidney with the Acadia goals

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Make it three straight losses for the Acadia Axemen (2-3-1), as the USPORTS No. 6 ranked Saint Mary’s Huskies pulled off a 3-2 OT win on Wednesday night. 

Acadia held a lead late in the third, but Saint Mary’s tied the game on a late power-play goal and then won it in OT on a goal from Subway First Star of the Night Bradey Johnson (Lindsay, Ont.). 

Johnson came in on an odd-man rush and slipped a wrist shot past Acadia’s goalie Zachary Paputsakis (Rockland, Ont.) to send the Acadia crowd home in disappointment. 

There was a kerfuffle in front of the Saint Mary’s net near the beginning of the period that set the tone for a rough first period. 

Neither team was able to open the scoring in the first period. 

Saint Mary’s had the best chance of the period when Jake Durham (Port Perry, Ont.) missed a wide-open net on a cross-crease pass in the final minutes of the first. 

Acadia came close to putting one on the board in the final minute of the first when Keegan Stevenson (Aweres Township, Ont.) got a partial break and lifted a backhand shot at the net. 

At the end of the first period, Saint Mary’s held a 12-7 lead in shots. 

Saint Mary’s put one past Paputsakis with 4:44 left in the frame on a point shot from Jaxon Bellamy (Hampton, N.B). 

Adam McMaster (Beamsville, N.S.) wired a shot on a pass from Nick Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, Ont.) to tie the game, which is where the score stood heading into the final frame. 

At the end of the second, the shots were 21-18 for Acadia. 

Acadia took their first lead of the game in the final period on a goal from the team’s leading scorer, Liam Kidney (Enfield, N.S.). 

Kidney picked up a rebound in front of the net and slid it past the goalie to make it 2-1. 

A late penalty in the final minutes of the third by Acadia gave Andrew Coxhead (Bedford, N.S.) the opportunity to wire a top-shelf wrist shot into the top right corner to tie the game. 

Acadia goalie and second star of the night Zachary Paputsakis turned aside 28 of 31 shots on the night in a stellar performance. Saint Mary’s goalie and third star of the night Matt Welsh (Halifax, N.S.) stopped 28 of 30 shots. 

The Acadia Axemen return to the ice on Saturday, Oct. 29 against the UPEI Panthers before returning for a home game on Friday, Nov. 4 against the Dalhousie Tigers.  The Huskies host the UPEI Panthers on this Friday night. The puck drops at 7:00 pm on both nights. 

Deakin-Poot, Zazula, & Hoyt with Acadia’s goals

Wolfville, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen came up short in a 5-3 loss to the UPEI Panthers, making it two losses in a row for Acadia. 

A three-goal first period from UPEI was the difference maker in the game. Acadia attempted a comeback, getting within one in the second, but they could not find a way to tie the game. 

UPEI stormed out with an offensive onslaught in the first period, taking a 3-0 lead into the second period. 

Drake Pilon (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) opened the scoring on a beautiful cross-ice pass in front of the net from Darian Pilon (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.). 

Pilon’s goal was a wrister that found the top right corner of the net. 

Carson MacKinnon (Summerside, P.E.I.) doubled up the score at the halfway point of the period on a tap-in in front of the net. 

Subway First Star of the Night, Troy Lajeunesse (Sturgeon Falls, Ont.), added to the lead at 1:36 after MacKinnon with another tap-in near the front of the net. 

By the end of the period, the Panthers had doubled up the Axemen in shots, 16-8. 

Acadia made a valiant comeback effort in the second frame thanks to goals from the second star of the night Nick Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, Ont.) and Luke Zazula (Langley, B.C.). 

Deakin-Poot took a wrist shot from the slot with 15:56 remaining to play in the second. His shot found the back of the net and was so hard, it knocked the cap off of the goalie’s water bottle. 

Zazula put Acadia within one at the 8:21 mark in the second period, on a toe-drag wrist shot in the slot. He was able to score after Bailey Peach (Falmouth, N.S.) kept the puck in the zone after shaking a defender at the blue-line with a spin move.  

However, the Panthers doubled up their lead with 42.8 seconds left in the frame. 

Lajeunesse potted his second of the night on a power-play one-timer while set up in the right circle in Acadia’s zone. 

The shots were much closer by the end of the second, with UPEI holding a 27-25 lead. 

It was a tense third period, as Acadia tried to tie things up, but were largely unable to solve the Panthers goalie, Jonah Capriotti (Charlottetown, P.E.I.). 

To make things interesting, Peyton Hoyt (Fredericton, N.B.) netted a power-play goal from the point in the final minute of the game with the goalie pulled. 

A comeback was not in the cards for Acadia, as the Panthers added an empty-net goal thanks to Darian Pilon. 

UPEI Panther Kyle Maksimovich (Oakville, Ont.) was awarded the third star of the night. 

Zachary Paputsakis (Rockland, Ont.) turned aside 25 of 29 shots on the night. Conor McCollum (Pickering, Ont.) stopped all three shots he faced when he came in for a brief relief of Paputsakis to end the first period. UPEI goalie Jonah Capriotti stopped 33 of 36 shots on the night. 

Acadia returns to the ice on Wednesday, Oct. 26 against the Saint Mary’s Huskies at home. The puck drop for the game is 7:00 pm. The Panthers travel to Saint Mary’s on Friday night.