Acadia makes it two wins in a row

Wolfville, N.S. – Make it two straight wins for the Acadia Axemen (4-5-0), who snagged a 5-2 win over the UPEI Panthers (3-4-1) on Saturday night. The Axemen never trailed in the game thanks to solid offensive performance and a strong performance from Logan Flodell in the net.

It only took 19 seconds for Acadia to get on the board, thanks to a goal from Subway First Star of the Night Cole Rafuse.

Rafuse broke in on a 2-on-1 with Nick Deakin-Poot and redirected a pass in front of the net past the left pad of the UPEI goalie, allowing Acadia to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead.

Much like the first goal, the Axemen doubled their lead on a redirected pass in front of the Panthers net.

TJ Fergus cut in behind a UPEI defender in front of the net and tipped a pass from a streaking Mason McCarty into the bottom left corner of the net to make it 2-0.

At the end of the first period, Acadia held a 10-9 lead in shots.

UPEI answered back in the second with two goals but came out of the period down 3-2.

Both Panthers’ goals mirrored the Axemen goals from the first frame.

TJ Shea notched a goal 4:48 into the period and less than five minutes later, the Panthers tied the game on a marker from the second star of the night Kyle Makismovich.

Both goals came on cross-crease passes that got the Axemen goalie moving from one side of his net to the other.

A four-minute kneeing penalty was the difference-maker in the period, as Acadia reclaimed their lead in the final minute of the second on a power-play goal from the third star of the night, Luke Zazula.

Zazula carried the puck from the Axemen zone, stepped over the UPEI blueline – in the middle of four Panthers defenders – and rifled a hard snapshot into the top left corner of the net for the tiebreaker.

Despite trailing in scoring, UPEI held a 19-17 shot lead going into the final frame.

It was a tight final frame with chances from both sides, but Acadia doubled up the Panthers with five minutes left in the game on a goal from Mason McCarty.

McCarty sped into the Panthers zone on a partial break, took a pass off the boards from Adam McMaster, and lifted the puck into the top right corner for the 4-2 lead.

The game was stopped for some roughhousing late in the third, as the teams combined for 10 minutes in individual roughing penalties.

Acadia sealed the victory with a last-minute empty-net goal from Peyton Hoyt.

Logan Flodell stopped 32 of 34 shots for the Axemen, while his UPEI counterpart Lucas Fitzpatrick turned aside 21 of 25 shots on the night.

Acadia returns to play on Wednesday, Nov. 3 against the Dalhousie Tigers, while the Panthers go up against the Moncton Aigles Bleus on Wednesday as well. The puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm.

Provided by Josh Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications Office

Flodell stops 48 of 50 shots for Win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen (3-5-0) snapped a three-game losing streak on Wednesday night, securing a 3-2 OT win over the Saint Mary’s Huskies (3-3-1). Forwards Adam McMaster and Subway First Star of the Game Mason McCarty scored all three of Acadia’s goals, with McCarty scoring the first and last goals of the game.

Despite taking an early lead, the Axemen fell behind in a 2-1 deficit to Saint Mary’s after the first period.

Acadia got themselves on the board early in the game, notching a goal in the opening two minutes of the game.

Mason McCarty finished a pass from Adam McMaster in front of the net, lifting the puck over the right pad of the Huskies goalie to make it 1-0.

However, the Acadia lead was short-lived, as Jacob Durham finished a cross-zone pass from Mitchell Balmas, beating the Logan Flodell high glove to tie the game at 1-1.

With 9 seconds left in the period, Joel Bishop gave Saint Mary’s their first lead of the game. Bishop scooped up a pass in front of the net and tucked it five-hole to end the period 2-1.

At the end of the opening period, Saint Mary’s held a 10-8 shot lead.

Adding to his assist in the first, Adam McMaster put up the lone goal of the second period, tying the game at 2-2 heading into the third.

McMaster snuck in behind the Saint Mary’s defenders in the offensive zone and got a lucky bounce after the puck hit a Huskies leg and rolled out to McMaster.

To tie the game, McMaster cut in tight on the Huskies goalie and squeaked the puck under the goalie’s blocker.

“Obviously it’s huge. The last three games were pretty tough. We haven’t come out of the gate very well and that’s what we were preaching today. Even though we are short-bodied, we really battled today,” McMaster noted when asked how important the win was tonight.

“Same as we do every day. A little bit more video this week and worked on things we needed to touch up, especially things from last week we got back to doing earlier in the preseason and the first part of the regular season,” said McMaster when asked what the team did differently this week in practice.

Saint Mary’s continued to hold a lead in shots going into the third, up 28-20 in that department.

While there were chances on both sides in the final frame, neither team was able to crack the tie, leading to a 3-on-3 OT to decide the winner.

With 1:23 left to play in OT, McCarty notched a power-play marker from inside the blue-line. McCarty took a pass at the point and ripped a shot into the top left corner of the net to seal the victory for the Axemen.

Logan Flodell had a busy night in the net, turning aside 48 of 50 shots for the third star of the night honours. His Huskies counterpart Matt Welsh stopped 30 of 33 shots on the night.

Saint Mary’s forward Sam King was named the second star.

The Axemen take to the ice again on Saturday, Oct. 30 at home against the UPEI Panthers, while Saint Mary’s next faces off against UPEI on Friday, Oct. 29. The puck drop for both games is 7:00 p.m.

By Thomas Becker

Three goals in the game’s opening nine minutes were more than enough for the UPEI Panthers, as they shutout the Acadia Axemen 3-0 Saturday night.

Jesse Sutton and Jordan Maher scored their first goals of the season, while rookie forward Danil Antropov capped off the scoring midway through the period. Kyle Maksimovich led the way with two assists.

Rookie goaltender Jonah Capriotti, who recorded 21 saves for his first AUS shutout, said the offensive outpour helped him relax and made the game easy.

“I have to give it up to the boys for helping me out. The defence was unbelievable tonight and the forwards did their job and got some points on the board.”

The Panthers (3-2-1) jumped all over an Axemen (2-5-0) team that looked fatigued and was outworked shift after shift. It only took three minutes for UPEI to get on the board as Sutton got goaltender Max Paddock to bite on a move before sneaking a backhand by the far post.

Maher then dove for a loose puck in front of the net at 5:48 after Filip Rydstrom’s shot from the side of the net got through Paddock leaving an open net for the sophomore, who extended the lead to 2-0.

The Panthers capitalized on a power play three minutes later when Matt Brassard’s shot from the point was poked in by Antropov as the home team made it a three-goal game where it’d stay the rest of the way.

After the game, UPEI head coach Forbes MacPherson praised his team’s ability to impose their will early and often, especially against a tired opponent playing their second game of a back-to-back.

“It was Acadia’s third game this week and we were sitting here waiting for them,” MacPherson said. “We wanted to establish a presence right off the bat and I thought our guys did a good job of that.”

A significant development for the Panthers this season has been their much-improved defence. Through six games, they’ve allowed the second-fewest goals and proven they can hold a lead more consistently. After seizing control early in the first period, they continued to play with intensity and poise in the defensive zone as they limited Acadia to just 21 shots, all of which were easily handled by Capriotti.

“There were spurts where Acadia had us on our heels, but we managed to rebound from that and kept pushing forward,” MacPherson said.

The Panthers return to the ice Oct. 29 when they take on the Saint Mary’s Huskies in Halifax.

Photo Credit: Janessa Hogan

McFadden & Hoyt with 2 assists each in loss

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Despite an attempted comeback by the home team, the Saint Mary’s Huskies (3-3-0) defeated the Acadia Axemen (2-4-0) by a score of 5-3 on Friday night. Acadia nearly doubled up the Huskies in shots, but a pair of goals from both Subway First Star of the Night Joel Bishop and Keith Getson was enough to give the Huskies the win.

Saint Mary’s jumped out to an early lead and continued to dominate the scoring, putting up three goals in the first period.

Their first goal of the night came 22 seconds into the game on a quick shot close to the net from Joel Bishop.

The Huskies’ passing got the Acadia’s goalie Logan Flodell moving side-to-side, and Bishop finished on a pass in front to make it 1-0.

Keith Getson added a pair of goals, including a power-play marker at the 4:00 mark in the first to give Saint Mary’s a 3-0 lead heading into the second period.

Getson’s second goal came out of a nice passing play in the offensive zone that ended with Getson taking a pass from Mitchell Balmas and sliding a shot under the pad of Flodell.

By the end of the opening period, Saint Mary’s held a 12-7 shots on goal lead.

While the Huskies added two more goals in the second, Acadia replied with two tallies in the final two minutes of the period.

Mitchell Balmas added to the Huskies’ lead in the second with another power-play goal to give Saint Mary’s a commanding 4-0 lead.

Dawson Theede faked a shot at the top of the right face-off circle and passed to Balmas in front for an easy tap-in goal.

Adding to their lead a few minutes later, Bishop netted his second of the night. Through the middle of Acadia’s zone, Bishop took a pass from Nathan Dunkley, and wired a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net to make it 5-0.

Acadia answered back with under two minutes left in the period when Maurizio Colella ripped a one-timer from the middle of the offensive zone to make it 5-1.

Adam McMaster ended the second on a high note for the Axemen, scoring a powerplay goal with 0.2 seconds remaining in the period.

McMaster’s goal came out of a mad scramble in front of the net. He chipped the puck in under the pad of the Huskies’ goalie Matt Welsh to close the gap to 5-2 going into the third.

After two periods of play, the shots were 25-16 in Acadia’s favour.

The Axemen continued to mount a comeback in the third but ultimately fell short.

The second star of the night, Keegan Stevenson, gave Acadia their second power-play goal of the game with 5:37 left in the third. Stevenson jammed the puck by Welsh in front of the net to narrow the Huskies’ lead to 5-3.

Acadia goalie Logan Flodell turned aside 17 of 22 shots on the night, while his Saint Mary’s counterpart – and third star of the night – Matt Welsh stopped 41 of the 44 pucks he saw.

The Axemen take to the ice again Saturday, Oct. 23 against the UPEI Panthers before returning home for a rematch with the Huskies Wednesday, Oct. 27. The Axemen’s next home game will cap off four games in week schedule. The puck drop for both games is at 7:00 pm.

Provided by Josh Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

McFadden nets pair in Acadia loss

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Continuing their strong opening to the season, the USPORTS No. 10 ranked StFX X-Men (5-1-0) pulled off a convincing 7-4 win against the No. 5 ranked Acadia Axemen (2-4-0) on Wednesday night.

One bright spot for the Axemen came when Keegan Stevenson scored his first USPORTS career goal. He potted his goal on the power-play while parked in front of the net where he lifted a backhand in tight under the crossbar.

StFX dominated play through the first period and was rewarded with a 4-0 lead by the end of the opening frame.

The X-Men opened the scoring early in the game, thanks to hard work in front of the net from William Bower.

Bower picked up a rebound off the pad of the Acadia goalie Logan Flodell in front of the net and rammed the puck in to make it 1-0.

Less than ten minutes later, StFX doubled their lead on a power-play goal from Subway First Star of the Game, Zack Trott.

In the final two minutes of the frame, StFX added two more goals to take a commanding 4-0 advantage.

The first was a breakaway from Jacob Hudson, who slipped the puck under Flodell’s glove, while the second came from Matthew Struthers, who took a cross-ice pass and lifted the puck under the crossbar in close for the final goal of the period.

By the end of the first period, shots were 14-12 for StFX.

While the second star of the night Garrett McFadden got Acadia on the board with a pair of goals in the second period, the Axemen were still down 5-2 by the end of the second period.

StFX opened the scoring in the third with a goal from third-star of the night Liam Hawel, who snuck a shot in during a scramble in front.

McFadden’s first of the period came on the power-play when he wired a shot from the right side of the ice, while his second came in the last minute of the period when he finished a pass from Maurizio Colella.

At the end of the second period, the X-Men held a 23-19 lead in shots.

It was a high-scoring third period, as both teams added two goals apiece.

StFX got markers from Matthew Phillip and Josh Nelson, while Acadia got goals from Keegan Stevenson and Jack Flaman in the back half of the final frame.

Despite the late reply from the Axemen, they were unable to answer StFX’s strong offensive performance.

Acadia goalie Logan Flodell turned aside 4 of 14 shots, before being pulled at the end of the first. Max Paddock turned aside 11 of 14 shots for Acadia in two periods of play.

StFX goalie Joseph Raaymakers stopped 28 of 32 shots.

Acadia’s next game is Friday, Oct. 22 at home against the Saint Mary’s Huskies, while StFX takes on UNB this Friday, Oct. 22. The puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm.

Provided by Josh Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications