Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

StFX scores late powerplay goal in 4-3 victory

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The USports No. 3 StFX X-Men managed to stay alive in the best-of-five series on Monday night in Wolfville, with a 4-3 win over the No. 7 Acadia Axemen to tie the series at 2-2.

AUS Most Valuable Player Chase Marchand deservedly received Subway First Star of the Night honours on the night for another strong performance to help his team win.

An evenly matched opening period between the two teams showed on the scoreboard, with the teams tied at 1-1 heading into the second.

The X-Men opened the scoring 5:56 into the first frame, on a goal by StFX defenseman Daniel Robertson, who came in off the blue-line and ripped a shot into the top right corner of the Axemen net.

Acadia evened the score late in the period, when defenseman Stephen Woodworth sent a cross-ice pass to forward Boston Leier who fired a low wrist shot past the screened Marchand.

By the end of the period, the X-Men led 11-10 in shots.

The second period mirrored the first. StFX capitalized on an untimely change by an Axemen defenseman due to an equipment issue, with StFX forward Matt Needham scoring on a scramble in front of the Acadia net to make it 2-1.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Clarke scores lone goal in victory

WOLFVILLE, N.S – It was a nail-biter on Sunday night in Wolfville, as the USports No. 7 Acadia Axemen took a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series with a 1-0 win over the No. 3 StFX X-Men.

The game was dominated by the goaltenders, with Axemen goaltender Robert Steeves and X-Men goaltender Chase Marchand taking second and third stars of the night, respectively.

Neither team was able to score in the first period that saw the Axemen outshoot the X-Men 11-3.

The period saw no shortage of penalties, as the teams combined for 22 minutes in penalties, including a ruckus that broke out in front of the StFX net.

Acadia nearly scored when defenseman Geoff Schemitsch broke in on the right wing and slid a pass in front of the net that slid under the pad of the X-Men goalie, but stayed out of the net.

The Axemen broke the scoreless tie at 3:11 into the second for the only goal of the period, taking their 1-0 lead into the third.

Axemen forward, and Subway First Star of the Game, Michael Clarke came out in front of the X-Men net and lifted a backhand over the glove of the X-Men goaltender Chase Marchand to make it 1-0. The goal would be the eventual game-winner for the Axemen.Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

AXEMEN AFTER SCHOOL IP SPRING CAMP 

EVERY MONDAY STARTING MARCH 26TH FOR 6 WEEKS

  • MARCH 26TH
  • APRIL 2ND
  • APRIL 9TH
  • APRIL 16TH
  • APRIL 23RD
  • APRIL 30TH

SESSIONS WILL FOCUS ON SKATING, SKILL DEVELOPMENT & STATION WORK

TIME: 4:15PM-5:15PM

COST: $75.00

MAX: 25 PLAYERS

TO REGISTER PLEASE EMAIL: kris.macdonald@acadiau.ca

 

AXEMEN AFTER SCHOOL SPRING CAMPS 

THE AFTER-SCHOOL CAMP INCLUDES:

6 SESSIONS PLUS AN ADDITIONAL DEAN PEACH POWER SKATING SESSION.

GOALIES WILL RECEIVE GOALIE INSTRUCTION FROM AXEMEN GOALIE COACH CHARLES GRANT FOR 1 SESSION.  

TUESDAY’S – NOVICE

MARCH 27TH, APRIL 3RD 10TH 17TH 24TH, MAY 1ST & 15TH

WEDNESDAY’S- ATOM

MARCH 28TH, APRIL 4TH 11TH 18TH 25TH, MAY 2ND & 16TH

THURSDAY’S- PEEWEE

MARCH 29TH, APRIL 5TH 12TH 19TH 26TH, MAY 3RD & 17TH

FRIDAY’S- BANTAM/MIDGET

MARCH 30TH, APRIL 6TH 13TH 20TH 27TH, MAY 4TH & 18TH

 

SESSIONS WILL FOCUS ON SKATING, SKILL DEVELOPMENT

& STATION WORK

TIME: 4:15PM-5:15PM

COST: $125.00

MAX: 25 PLAYERS per AGE GROUP

TO REGISTER PLEASE EMAIL: kris.macdonald@acadiau.ca

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Special teams the difference for StFX in Game 2

ANTIGONISH, NS – The StFX X-Men evened up the Subway AUS best-of-five semifinal series with a 3-0 shutout victory over the Acadia Axemen Friday night in front of over 1000 fans at the Charles V. Keating Centre. 

All three X-Men goals came on special teams play as they had a pair of power play markers in the second period and a shorthanded goal in the third to seal up the Game 2 victory. 

The teams remained scoreless after the first period of play as StFX held a slight 9-8 advantage in shots. Acadia was unable to connect on two power play opportunities in the opening period and StFX was 0-1 on the man-advantage. 

Santino Centorame (Mississauga, ON) had the X-Men’s best scoring chance five minutes into the second period when he rang one of the Axemen’s goal post. StFX also had two power play opportunities early on in the period but were unable to capitalize.  

They finally connected on the power play at 10:43 when Kristoff Kontos (Pentanguishene, ON) fed Jagger Dirk (Penticton, BC) the puck at the top of the face-off circle as he skated in and unleashed a shot that beat Robert Steeves (St. Joseph-de-Kent, NB) in the Axemen net. Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, NS) also assisted on the play. 

The X-Men increased their lead to 2-0 off another power play goal late in the second period with only 33 seconds left in the frame. Bryson Cianfrone (Stoney Creek, ON) fed a cross-ice pass to Cole MacDonald (Wetaskawin, AB) who whipped a quick shot into the Acadia net. Centorame also picked up a helper on the play. 

Read more »

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DiGiacinto with 3 points in Acadia win

ANTIGONISH, NS – In a battle of U SPORTS ranked teams, the No. 3 StFX X-Men fell 4-2 to the No. 7 Acadia Axemen Thursday evening in front of over 800 hometown fans as the Axemen earned a key victory on the road in Game 1 of the Subway AUS semifinal best-of-five series at the Charles V. Keating Centre. 

All indications are that the two teams are in for a close, hard-fought semifinal series. The puck hadn’t even dropped on Game 1 as players from both teams exchanged words and minor scuffles at the start of warm-up.   

Freshman X-Men defenseman Santino Centorame (Mississauga, ON) opened the scoring in the game with a power play marker at 2:47 off a shot from the point that looked to have deflected past netminder Robert Steeves (St. Joseph-de-Kent, NB) off one of his own defenseman. Michael Clarke (London, ON) and Kristoff Kontos (Pentanguishene, ON) had the helpers on the play for the X-Men. 

The Axemen nearly tied it up minutes later as Kyle Farrell (Howie Corner, NS) streaked in alone on the X net but was stopped by AUS most valuable player Chase Marchand (Halifax, NS). 

The visitors did tie it up at the 7:49 mark when Sam Fiorertti (Calgary, AB) shoveled in a rebound past Marchand after the initial save was made on a Liam Maaskant (Clinton, ON) shot. AUS second team all-star Boston Leier (Saskatoon, SK) also assisted on the play. 

The score remained tied at 1-1 at the conclusion of the first period, despite an X-Men power play late in the frame that generated several shots on net, but Steeves held his ground in the Axemen net. 

Shots favored the X-Men 12-10 in the opening period. 

Read more »

Posted on Posted in Team Stories

Best of 5 series opens up Thursday in Antigonish

The Acadia Axemen (18-10-2) will face the StFX X-Men (22-4-4) in the AUS men’s hockey semi-final series starting Thursday at 7pm in Antigonish. Game 2 will go Friday again in Antigonish, before the series switches to Wolfville for Game 3 on Sunday night. Game 4, if necessary is slated for Monday night again in Wolfville. Tickets are now on sale at the Acadia Box office for the game(s). Game 5, if necessary, would be back in Antigonish.

The Axemen come into the series on a hot streak, after finishing the regular season with 3 straight wins, including victories over UNB, Saint Mary’s, and Moncton, before sweeping the Dalhousie Tigers in 2 games in the AUS quarterfinals best of 3 series.

Axemen head coach Darren Burns said the following looking forward to the series with the X-Men, ” We are just trying to focus on improving our game every night. Our series versus Dal was a very hard fought battle. We were fortunate to be able to get some additional games in the playoffs before this series to help us to prepare. Anytime you are playing university hockey this time of the year is very exciting.”

StFX, along with UNB earned first round bye’s for finishing atop the AUS conference; that will mark a 12 day layoff for StFX since their last game in February 10th, a 5-0 loss to UPEI. February has not been kind to the X-Men as they lost 7-3 to Dal, 5-2 to UNB, and as mentioned, 5-0 to UPEI. They did defeat Moncton 5-2 amidst the losses.

Acadia has had trouble with the X-Men this season, as the X-Men won 3 of the 5 games in regulation time, and another in a Shootout to open the season. Acadia took the matchup on November 3rd , in overtime 6-5 in a game that saw emotions run over with 212 combined penalty minutes and player suspensions.

There’s no doubt that this series will be a physical battle and emotions will run high, but it will be key for the teams to keep their emotions in check and stay out of penalty trouble as both teams are dangerous on the man advantage; Acadia converting 25.5% of their powerplays and StFX 25.7%.

Read more »

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Acadia scores 4 in 3rd period in comeback victory

HALIFAX, N.S. – In game two of the best of three playoff series, the Dalhousie Tigers faced elimination at home against the Acadia Axemen. Despite getting outplayed in the first two periods, the Axemen put together a tremendous final frame with 4 unanswered goals to claim the 4-2 win, and 2-0 series victory. 

In a hard hitting, physical start to the game, the Axemen tested Corbin Boes (Saskatoon, SK) with lots of shots early, but no threatening chances. 

The Tigers looked fantastic on the penalty kill early, only giving up three shots on two opportunities. Penalties were becoming an issue for the Tigers however, spending six of the first twelve minutes of the game a man short.  

With five minutes to go in the period, Tigers got their first power play opportunity, and made it count. After a scrum along the boards, Miles McGurty (Hoboken, NJ) sent a beautiful no-look pass across the slot to Jackson Playfair (Fort St. James, BC) that had Robert Steeves (St. Joseph-de-Kent, NB) going the wrong way. Playfair sent a pass in front and Alex Pawelczyk (Sterling Heights, MI) had a wide open net for the tap-in to open up the scoring for the Tigers.  

After a last minute flurry of shots from the Axemen, the score remained 1-0 for the Tigers heading into the first intermission.  

Read more »

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Leier notches 2 as Axemen win 5-2

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The U SPORTS No. 8 ranked Acadia Axemen gave the home crowd a Valentine’s Day to remember with a 5-2 win over the Dalhousie Tigers to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three AUS quarterfinal series.

Acadia dominated play for the majority of the game, including a strong performance from goaltender Robert Steeves and two goals from Subway First Star of the Night, Boston Leier.

Although the Tigers struck first, the Axemen scored two unanswered goals to take a 2-1 lead heading into the second.

Dalhousie opened the scoring, with 5:27 remaining in the first period, when defenseman, and second star of the night, Colton Heffley redirected a shot in front over the glove of the Axemen goaltender.

The Tigers lead was short-lived, as Axemen forward Boston Leier tied the game roughly three minutes later.

Leier zipped behind the net Dalhousie net and picked up a rebound in front and buried it past the sprawling Tigers goaltender Corbin Boes.Read more »

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Current Screaming Eagle to join Axemen next season

The Acadia Axemen are happy to announce the commitment of Ross MacDougall to the program. Ross currently plays with the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles of the QMJHL; the defenceman is a native of St. Stephen, New Brunswick & has 19 points in 29 games.

Previous to joining Cape Breton last season, he played 2 1/2 seasons with the Quebec Remparts. Last season MacDougall put up his best offensive numbers, splitting the season with Quebec & the Eagles, with 39 points in 63 games, adding 6 points in 11 playoff games for Cape Breton.

Acadia head coach Darren Burns on adding MacDougall to the program, “We are very excited to be bringing in Ross for next season. He is an extremely high character kid who has a strong offensive upside, his skating abilities will be a big asset to our d-corps.”

MacDougall joins fellow recruits Lochlan Morrison & Jack Flaman, along with Jackson Houck who has red-shirted this season after playing pro last year. Acadia will graduate up to 10 players from their current roster, so Coach Burns and his coaching staff will have more work to do, but adding a player of MacDougall’s pedigree is a major addition.

Posted on Posted in Game Recaps

Harper scores OT winner, wins AUS scoring race

The Acadia Axemen (18-10-2) finished out the 2017-18 men’s hockey regular season with a matchup against the U de M Aigles Bleus on Saturday night in Moncton. After defeating USports #2 Ranked UNB last Saturday night, and #6 ranked SMU Huskies on Friday night, the Axemen had put their destiny in their own hands to earn third place in the AUS standings. All that stood in the way was a victory over the Aigles Bleus (3-25-2).

The Aigles Bleus came into the game with nothing to lose, already out of the playoff scene, and they played with their heart on their sleeve giving the Axemen all they could handle. It took extra time but the Axemen prevailed with a 3-2 overtime victory to secure the 3rd place finish in the ultra competitive AUS conference.

U de M got on the board first when Carl Marois scored at 7:19 of the opening period, putting the puck past Axemen netminder Robert Steeves, but the Axemen answered back when 4th year defenceman Matt Pufahl took a pass from Remy Giftopoulos and beat Moncton goalie Brandon Thibeau to tie the game at 1 at 10:40 of the opening period.

Acadia took a 2-1 lead in the 2nd period when Cristiano DiGiacinto scored his first goal in an Axemen uniform, after joining the team in January. Assists went to Chance Braid & Geoff Schemitsch on the goal at 5:03. But the Axemen lead was short lived as Carl Marois scored his second of the night, this time on the powerplay to tie the game at two.Read more »