Burns nets the 3rd period game winner

WOLFVILLE – Acadia’s three-game losing skid came to an end on Saturday night as they beat the StFX X-Men 3-2 in front of 1,326 fans at Andrew H McCain Arena in Wolfville.Β Β 

The hero on the night was Brady Burns (Port Williams, NS) who scored the game-winning goal 3:55 into the third period on the power play. With the goal he has seven on the year, trailing only Bailey Peach (Falmouth, NS) in goals. Burns still leads Acadia in points with 21 over 24 games.Β Β 

The Axemen opened the scoring 2:07 into the game, with Brendan Sellan (Bolton, ON) taking a pass from goaltender Thomas Couture (Levis, QC). Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, SK) made it 2-0 before StFX’s Zack Trott (Mulmur, ON) cut into the lead before the end of the period.Β Β 

Trott’s power play goal made it 2-1 after 20.Β Β Β 

Jacob Hudson (Antigonish, NS) tied the game 2-2 midway through the second period, where the score stood heading into the final frame.Β Β 

In the victory Couture made 37 stops, while Joseph Raaymakers (Chatham, ON) made 28 saves in the loss.Β Β 

StFX will host Dalhousie on Wednesday night in Antigonish before travelling to Charlottetown to battle the Panthers on Friday. For the Axemen, they’re on the road for a Friday night tilt in Moncton against the Aigles Bleus before facing the first place UNB Reds on Saturday in Fredericton.Β Β 

Moncton and UNB both have clinched playoff berths, while Acadia is currently four points ahead of Dalhousie for the final playoff spot in the AUS.Β Β 

Axemen fire 58 shots on net in loss

(Halifax, NS) – The Dalhousie Tigers beat the Acadia Axemen 5-3 Friday night at the Halifax Forum.Β 

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After going down 3-0 in the first period, the Tigers rallied back off the efforts of Robbie Forbes (Oakville, NS) who made 55 saves and took home player of the game.Β 

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23 seconds into the game, Acadia went onto the power play, but despite a Brady Burns (Port WIlliams, NS) shot that made it through traffic, which Forbes managed to get enough of his stick on it, the Axemen were kept at bay on the man advantage.Β 

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After Dalhousie kept Acadia in their own end for a shift, the Axemen went on a full team break, and Hudson Wilson (Toronto, ON) put his second goal of the season past Forbes for the first of the game.Β 

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A minute later an Acadia defenceman chipped the puck off of the glass, and Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, SK) beat the defenceman to the puck, went on a two on one with Ethan Ernst, and found Ernst who buried the goal.Β 

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Dalhousie went on the power play, but after being left off the scoreboard for two minutes, 34 went on a breakaway, and made a heads up play to leave it in front of the crease for 23 who knocked it past Forbes.Β 

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The Tigers gained momentum after Evan MacKinnon (Beaverbank, NS) hung onto the puck on a two on one, outwaited the Acadia defenceman and fed Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS) who sniped bardown.Β 

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Dalhousie cut the lead to one heading into the second period after Drew Johnston (Saint John, NB) forced the defenceman to turn the puck over to Joseph Serpa (Cambridge, ON) whose shot bounced off the pad of Thomas Couture (LΓ©vis, QC) to Shaun Miller (Enfield, NS), who put it into the back of the net.Β Β 

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The Tigers wasted no time out of the new period tying things up.Β 

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Dalhousie held a power play early in the new period, and less than a minute into the period, Jarett Baker’s (Black Rock, NS) shot from the point was tipped by Serpa, and ended up in the net.Β 

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30 seconds later, before the announcer could make the crowd aware of the prior goal, the Tigers took the lead, when Barret Kirwin (Barrie, ON) sniped a shot from the top of the right hand circle past Couture far side.Β 

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Acadia almost scored the equalizer, when Zack Jones (North Falmouth, Maine) shook Jackson Van de Leest (Kelowna, BC), drove into the crease,Β  but was taken down by the DAL defenders.Β 

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Once the period finished, Dalhousie was headed into the last period up 4-3.Β 

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Both teams worked themselves into the new period, and Acadia had a good chance when Tyler Deline’s (Peterberough, ON) point shot sprung out to an Acadian forward, but he shot it through the crease.Β 

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WIth six minutes left in the game Acadia went on the power play, and despite seven shots on the man advantage, Dalhousie kept the puck out of their net.Β 

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Out of the power play Acadia pulled their goalie, but they were not able to find the equalizer, as Serpa scored his second of the night to end the game 5-3.Β 

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The Axemen will travel back home tomorrow to welcome STFX to Wolfville, and Dalhousie will cross Robie St. to take on Saint Mary’s.Β 

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RECAP BY: Ethan HuntΒ 

PHOTOS BY: Nick PearceΒ 

Sellan with Acadia goal, Paputsakis makes 28 saves

WOLFVILLE – Despite the game being within reach for much of the night, the Acadia Axemen were unable to ruin the UNB Reds perfect season as the No. 1 ranked team improved to 22-0-0 with a 4-1 win on Friday night in front of 919 fans at Andrew H McCain Arena.Β 

Brady Gilmour (Grafton, ON) opened the scoring 13:32 into the first period on the power play to give UNB a 1-0, which held until the third period.Β Β 

On another power play, UNB’s Jason Willms (Kitchener, ON) doubled the lead just 38 seconds into the final 20 minutes of action. Cole McKay (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) added an insurance marker under three minutes later to give the Reds a comfortable lead.Β 

The lone goal for Acadia came on the power play off the stick of Brendan Sellan (Bolton, ON) to cut the lead to two with 4:57 to go in the game.Β 

Michael Petizian (Mississauga, ON) added the final goal for UNB with 9 seconds remaining on the clock.

Griffen Outhouse (Williams Lake, BC) made 22 saves in his 10th win of the season, while Zachary Paputsakis (Rockland, ON) made 28 saves in his second loss of the year.Β Β 

Next weekend the Axemen head to Halifax on Friday night to face the last place Dalhousie Tigers before hosting StFX on Saturday. UNB hosts Moncton on Friday before heading to Charlottetown to face the UPEI Panthers on Saturday night. Puck drop for all games is 7 p.m.Β 

Couture stops 36 shots, Tomilson & Nagy score for Acadia

WOLFVILLE – Jeremy Michel (Levis, QC) scored 47 seconds into overtime on Friday night to give the Moncton Aigles Bleus a 3-2 victory over the Acadia Axemen in front of 1,124 fans at Andrew H. McCain Arena.Β Β 

Acadia opened the scoring early, with Brendan Tomilson (Cameron, ON) scoring his first of the season.Β Β 

Moncton answered before the end of the first, where the score stood until the third period, with Jacob Dion (Sherbrooke, QC) scoring his first of the night.Β Β 

Dion’s second game 8:27 into the third period to give the Aigles Bleus the lead.Β Β 

That was answered just under three minutes later as Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, SK) scored his second of 2024 to knot the game 2-2.Β Β 

Thomas Couture (Levis, QC), the U SPORTS men’s hockey player of the week for the period ending January 7 made 26 saves in the loss, while Olivier Adam (Drummondville, QC) made 26 saves in the victory for Moncton.Β Β 

Saturday night Acadia welcomes the UNB Reds (21-0-0), while Moncton travels to Halifax to face the Saint Mary’s Huskies (11-10-0). Puck drop is 7 p.m. for both games.Β 

Acadia erases 3-1 deficit with come from behind win

By Reegan MacAulayΒ 

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It’s as if someone copied and pasted Friday night’s series of events as the UPEI Panthers suffered yet another heartbreaking shootout loss, this time to the Acadia Axemen 4-3 in what was another feisty and competitive game on Saturday night at the MacLauchlan Arena.Β 

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Just like what happened on Friday when the Panthers lost 5-4 to Saint Mary’s, it was another late rally by the opponent that caught the young Panthers off guard. Not ideal, but head coach Forbes MacPherson defended his inexperienced squad.Β 

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β€œWe just played 130 minutes of hockey against two very heavy teams and there were a lot of good signs. There’s another team out there that’s trying to win, (Saint Mary’s and Acadia) played good both nights.Β 

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β€œWe didn’t get the results we wanted. Last night’s feeling was way different than tonight the way it ended. I feel like there’s a small area of the game we’ve got to work on,” MacPherson said.Β 

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The Panthers came out strong as veteran forward Kaleb Pearson made a saucer pass from the far blue line up to rookie forward Noah Sedore, who surged on a breakaway and scored his seventh goal of the season at 2:00. It was another fabulous play from the top forward line of Pearson, Sedore, and rookie Elias Cohen, which has become a common pattern since November.Β 

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Seven minutes later, Liam Kidney tied the game for Acadia at 9:07. The Axemen took control of the game until a late penalty against Corson Hopwo, which led to another UPEI goal. A wide shot by Sedore bounced off the boards right to Cohen, who snapped home his seventh goal of the season at 17:36. After the game, coach MacPherson was more than happy to shout out to both players for their recent performances.Β 

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β€œThey’re two guys with high ceilings and they’re doing a lot of things well. We’re happy with their progress and transition into this league,” MacPherson said.Β 

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The Panthers weren’t done yet as, half a minute later, rookie forward Keiran Gallant was sent on a breakaway and he scored his third goal of the season at 18:04 to extend UPEI’s lead to 3-1.Β 

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The second period began relatively quiet as only one shot was registered after eight minutes from Acadia. Just past halfway, rookie defenseman Cameron Morton received an interference penalty, leading to an Axemen goal by Ethan Ernst at 10:53 to close the gap by one goal.Β 

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Although the Axemen had offensive control for most of the game, UPEI came out hungry and energetic in the third period, but they couldn’t capitalize on multiple big chances, including two power plays. As a result, the Axemen found better luck and Bailey Peach tied the game at 18:51. A high-sticking penalty against veteran defenseman Kurtis Henry gave the Panthers a scare, but they managed to kill it off in overtime.Β 

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Despite numerous chances on both ends, neither team could get the job done, thus, a shootout. Ethan Ernst was the lone goal scorer for Acadia, sealing the deal and handing the Axemen their second win in a row. Ben McFarlane, Kaleb Pearson, and Elias Cohen were the shooters for UPEI, all failing to score.Β 

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The final shots were 30-24 in favour of Acadia. Jonah Capriotti stopped 27 of 30 shots in net for UPEI, while Thomas Couture stopped 21 of 24 shots in net for Acadia. UPEI went 1-for-5 on the power play and Acadia went 1-for-4. Kurtis Henry was named UPEI Player of the Game for his two-assist performance.Β 

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The Panthers return to action next weekend as they will head on a road trip to Nova Scotia. On Friday, Jan. 12, they will face the 5-13-2 Dalhousie Tigers. UPEI is 2-1-0 against Dalhousie this season, previously winning 5-3 on the road in November. On Saturday, Jan. 13, they will face the 10-9-1 StFX X-Men. UPEI has yet to beat StFX after three matches so far.Β