Axemen fall 4-3 in OT

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The UPEI Panthers completed the upset bid and are headed to the semifinals after defeating the Acadia Axemen 4-3 in overtime Friday night.

Marcus Power’s heroics brought 1,200 cheering fans to their feet after netting the game-winning goal five minutes into the extra frame.

After surrendering a two-goal lead early in the third period, the resilient Panthers stuck with their game plan and battled back for the win.

The Panthers, who came into the series struggling to score, made every shift count and outscored the Axemen 10-6 in two games of the best-of-three series.

Game 2 saw both teams come out of the gate aggressive and physical, but Acadia had the first opportunity to get on scoreboard. A Panthers blocked shot led to an Axemen odd-man rush, but Mavric Parks denied the threat to keep the game scoreless.

Acadia continued their strong push and eventually broke through. After Parks made the initial save on an Axeman shot, forward Chance Braid poked away at the puck until it crossed the goal line, giving them a 1-0 edge.

Three minutes later, Power found Brent Andrews who went five hole past Acadia netminder Brandon Glover, tying the game at one apiece.Read more »

Axemen face do-or-die game on Friday in PEI

WOLFVILLE, N.S. –  Four goals in the opening nine minutes of the second period gave the visiting UPEI Panthers an insurmountable 5-1 lead and eventual 6-3 win over the CIS No. 5 ranked Acadia Axemen in the opening game of the AUS quarterfinal best of three series.

The Panthers opened the scoring at 9:35 in the first period when Nelson Armstrong (Peterborough, Ont.) carried the puck over the blueline and fed teammate Marcus Power (St. John’s, NL) a high slot pass. Power gained control of the puck and sent it back to Power for an easy tap-in past a sprawling Brandon Glover (Victoria, B.C.).

With a 1-0 deficit after one period, Axeman Mike Cazzola (Guelph, Ont.) responded only 1:16 into the second frame. Cazzola picked up a loose puck along the boards and sent a pin point pass to Brett Thompson who was along in front of the net. Thompson’s attempt to score fell short but the puck trickled between the pads of Mavric Parks (Eganville, Ont.), allowing Cazzola to net the tying goal.Read more »

Fioretti scores the OT winner for Acadia

WOLFVILLE, N.S. –  Sam Fioretti’s (Calgary, Alta.) wrap around goal with 7:28 remaining in the overtime period, gave the Axemen a 3-2 win over the visiting Saint Mary’s Huskies. The Axemen finish the regular season with a 19-7-2 record and third place in the final AUS standings, while the Huskies sit three points behind Acadia in fourth place with a 17-8-3 record.

Rookie Chance Braid (Wainwright, Alta.) opened the scoring early in the first period when the Huskies defensive unit coughed up the puck to Braid who was unattended in the slot. Braid’s backhand over stretched out Cole Cheveldave’s (Calgary, Alta.) glove hand side gave the Axemen an early 1-0 lead.

Calder Brooks (Emerald Place, Sask.) scored his first of two goals at the 9:18 mark of the first period after teammate Stephen MacAulay (Cole Harbour, N.S.) fed Brooks an across the crease pass from the face-off circle, setting up an easy tap-in past goaltender Brandon Glover (Victoria, B.C.).

Just over a minute after the Huskies goal, Brett Thompson (Sault Ste Marie, Ont.) setup Zachery Franko (Winnipeg, Man.) at the ringette line from the shallow corner.  Franko let loose a blistering slap shot that caught the top shelf on Cheveldave’s glove hand side for the 2-1 Axemen lead.

The lone goal of the second period was Brooks’ second goal of the night. Picking up a rebound from a blocked Jamie Doornbosch (Richmond Hill, Ont.) shot, Brooks backhanded a shot over Glover’s glove hand side to tie the game at two with 3:04 remaining in the second frame.Read more »

Fioretti nets the lone Axemen goal

Antigonish, N.S. – In a late-season battle for second place in the conference, the StFX X-Men (18-6-3) skated to a 4-1 win over the visiting Acadia Axemen (18-7-2) in AUS hockey action Wednesday night at the Keating Centre.

Coming into the mid-week match-up, the CIS #4-ranked Axemen led the X-Men (#8) by one point in the standings. With the victory, the X-Men kept their hopes alive of securing a first-round playoff bye. If StFX wins its regular season finale Friday night over the visiting Dalhousie Tigers, they will clinch second place in the league.

In the opening five minutes of the first period, the Axemen garnered a power-play chance, but the X-Men – led by goaltender Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) – kept the game scoreless.

A couple minutes later, at 7:20, the X-Men jumped to a 1-0 edge on a Max Iafrate (Livonia, MI) goal with the man advantage. After faking a pass from just inside the blue line, the first-year defenseman re-loaded and beat a screened Brandon Glover (Victoria, BC) high to the glove side with a wrist shot. Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, ON) collected the helper on the opening marker.

At 12:58, also on the power play, Sam Fioretti (Calgary, AB) evened the contest, when he collected a rebound on the lip of the crease before roofing a backhander over a sprawled Owsley, who had made the initial save on an Axemen shot from the blue line. Boston Leier (Saskatoon, SK) and Matthew Pufahl (Saskatoon, SK) notched the assists.Read more »

FREDERICTON, NB – In a scrap between Atlantic University Sport leaders, the UNB Varsity Reds scored a 7-4 victory over the Acadia Axemen.

Cameron Brace and Chris Clapperton each scored twice to lead the Varsity Reds, who ran their AUS win streak to an even dozen.

With the win, UNB clinches first place in the AUS for the ninth consecutive season.

Rob Mignardi, Tyler Carroll and Taylor MacDougall, into an empty net, also scored for UNB.

Jordan Murray had three assists.

Mike Cazzola, Boston Leier, Mike Fioretti and Brett Thompson scored for the Axemen.

The visitors opened the scoring, just 1:09 into the first period.

Varsity Reds netminder Etienne Marcoux couldn’t corral a rebound. Cazzola pounced on the loose puck, scoring his 16^th goal of the season.

Brace got his first of the night, six minutes later. On the power-play, he blasted a Jordan Murray pass underneath the crossbar to tie the game 1-1.

Acadia took the lead back a minute later, when Leier converted a Brett Thompson pass.

But Clapperton and Mignardi would score before the end of the first, to give UNB a 3-2 lead after 20 minutes.Read more »

Thompson, Cazzola, & Leier with Axemen goals

HALIFAX, N.S. – The unranked Saint Mary’s Huskies defeated the CIS No. 3 ranked Acadia Axemen 4-3 in AUS men’s hockey action Friday night at the Scotiabank Centre as part of the AUS Varsity Showdown event. The Huskies capitalized on the powerplay, scoring four goals with the man advantage.

Acadia opened the scoring when Brett Thompson (Sault Ste. Marie, Ont.) scored off a great rebound at 8:32 to make it 1-0.
The Huskies answered when Kyle Pereira (Brampton, Ont.) tallied from the top of the circle through traffic on the powerplay at 13:29 to tie it up at 1-1.

Saint Mary’s took the lead when Subway player of the game Matt Tipoff (Toronto, Ont.) potted a marker off another good rebound at 14:27 on the powerplay to make it 2-1 after the first period.

In the second period, Saint Mary’s increased their lead when Gerrard Grant (Halifax, N.S.) scored from in close off a beautiful cross crease pass at 2:04 on the powerplay to make the score 3-1.

Acadia narrowed the deficit when Mike Cazzola (Guelph, Ont.) tallied from the circle at 9:32 on the powerplay to get it to 3-2. Saint Mary’s got that one back when Tipoff got his second of the game off a slapshot from the circle at 15:00 on the powerplay to restore the two goal lead at 4-2 after two periods. Read more »

Fioretti scores twice including the game winner

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Sam Fioretti’s (Calgary, Alta.) second of two goals was the game winner as the Axemen snapped a two game losing streak with a 3-2 win against the red hot third place StFX X-Men.

On a two game winning streak, the X-Men hoped to extend it to three while in Wolfville for Bell Let’s Talk Night.

The X-Men opened the evening with a goal by Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, Ont.) with just over nine minutes remaining in the first period. Kontos received a great pass from teammate Holden Cook (Oshawa, Ont.) for the easy tap in.

The Axemen responded two minutes later when second year forward Boston Leier (Saskatoon, Sask.) scored his 12th goal of the regular season on a wrist shot that caught the top corner for the tying goal.

With no change in score in the second period, Sam Fioretti scored in the opening minute of the final frame. Fioretti’s goal was his first of a two goal third period.

Read more »