Fioretti nets three in Acadia victory

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – After clinching a playoff spot last week, the U Sports No. 5 ranked Acadia Axemen (18-8-2) continued their winning streak of three against the sixth-place Moncton Aigles Bleus (10-17-1), with a 4-1 win. Axemen forward, Sam Fioretti (Calgary, Alta.), scored a natural hat trick to help lift Acadia over Moncton in their last meeting of the year with the Aigles Bleus.

“It was a great team effort and wrapping up with the bye was our goal going into this year and I think it’s big for our playoff push,” said Fioretti after the game.

Moncton scored at 0:59 in the opening period, with a slapshot off the crossbar and past Axemen goaltender Robert Steeves (Moncton, N.B.), from forward Allain Saulnier (Cap-Pele, N.B.). The puck was shot so hard that it ricocheted back out of the net and play continued before the referees met near center ice to decide it was a good goal.

Fioretti tied the game up with a shorthanded marker late in the first on a 2-on-1, by tipping a pass from rushing defenseman, Geoff Schemitsch (Thornhill, Ont.), past Moncton goaltender, Alexi Thibaudeau (Gatineau, Que.).

Less than two minutes later, Fioretti struck again, coming out of the right corner and firing a snapshot, low glove side, beating Thibaudeau and giving the Axemen a 2-1 lead heading into the second.

Fioretti completed the natural hat trick 45 seconds before the midway point of the second period, on an Axemen power-play. After moving the puck around the perimeter of the Aigles Bleus penalty kill, Axemen defenseman, Matthew Pufahl (Saskatoon, Sask.), slid the puck over to Fioretti, who fired another low snapshot past Thibaudeau to give Acadia a 3-1 lead.

Axemen forward Brendan Childerley added to the lead roughly three minutes later, breaking in on the right side and firing a wrist shot past Aigles Bleus goaltender Brandon Thibeau (Riverview, N.B.), who replaced Thibaudeau after Fioretti’s hat trick.

Despite chances on both sides, neither team added a goal in the third period, as the Axemen focused on defending their lead and preventing Moncton from coming back for a 4-1 Acadia victory.

Axemen goaltender, Robert Steeves, turned aside 19 of 20 shots on the night. Meanwhile, Aigles Bleus goaltender, Brandon Thibeau stopped 6 of 7 shots in relief of the starter, Alexi Thibaudeau, who allowed 3 goals on 18 shots.

The Subway First Star of the Night went to Sam Fioretti, while second and third star of the night went to Moncton defenseman, Pierre Durepos (Shediac, N.B.) and Acadia defenseman, Alex Lepkowski (Buffalo, New York), respectively.

The Axemen have battled injuries for most of the season and Sam Fioretti noted the importance of the bye. “With these last two games and a week off before that (playoffs), sometimes it’s not necessarily the best team, but the healthiest team that comes on top.”

Acadia will next take to the ice on Fri. Feb. 10 in Halifax to take on the Dalhousie Tigers, before finishing up their regular season the next night, at home, against the StFX X-Men.

Moncton plays the first place UNB Varsity Reds tomorrow night, in Moncton, before finishing off their regular season next Friday in PEI to take on the UPEI Panthers. Puck drop for all games is 7:00 p.m.

Source: Josh Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications Office

Farrell nets game winner for Acadia

(Halifax, NS) The Acadia University Axemen scored three times in the third period to beat the Saint Mary’s University Huskies 4-3 on Saturday night  at the Halifax forum in Halifax, NS.

The loss drops the Huskies record to 13-13-1. Their 27-points has them in fourth place in the AUS standings with three games left in the regular season.

The Axemen moved to a 17-8-2 record. They sit second in the AUS with 36-points.

Devin Williams (Saginaw, MI) made 23 saves for the Axemen as he improved his record to 7-4.

Chance Braid (Provost, AB) (2), Brett Thompson (Sault St. Marie, ON) (9), Stephen Harper (Burlington, ON) (6) and Kyle Farrell (Howie Center, NS) (8) all found the back of the net for the Axemen.

Calder Brooks (Emerald Park, SK) (5), Hunter Garlent (Thorold, ON) (14) and Austyn Hardie (Montreal, QC) (1) tallied goals for the Huskies.

Garlent’s goal was the 38^th point of his rookie season and moved him into a three-way tie for second in AUS scoring.

Cole Cheveldave (Calgary, AB) made 19 saves for the Huskies and had his record fall to 6-9.Read more »

Leier with 3 goals, Thompson 4 helpers

Wolfville, N.S. – The U Sports No. 4 ranked Acadia Axemen (16-8-2) defeated the Dalhousie Tigers (8-15-3), by a score of 5-2 in front of a home crowd of 1567. A hat trick performance from Acadia forward Boston Leier (Saskatoon, Sask.) and a four-assist night from newly minted captain, Brett Thompson (Sault Ste. Marie), helped the Axemen snap a two-game skid.

Acadia scored the only goal of an evenly played first period, with a marker from Axemen forward, Boston Leier. Leier scored on a rebound off of a shot from Brett Thompson, who moved in from the left corner, and stickhandled around a Tigers defenseman before firing a low shot at Dalhousie goaltender, Jacob Fancy (Lower Sackville, N.S.). Leier, waiting on the right side of the net, dropped to one knee and fired the puck past Fancy.

At the end of the first, Acadia lead in shots 12-9, and held a 1-0 lead.

Leier struck again in the second, with a one-handed shot, while on his knees, behind the Tigers net. The puck banked off of Fancy’s skate and went into the net, to give Acadia a 2-0 lead on the power-play.Read more »

Acadia unable to comeback from 1st period deficit

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The StFX X-Men (14-9-2) pulled within two points of the Acadia Axemen (15-8-2), after winning 5-2 in Wolfville on Wednesday night. After scoring three in the first, the X-Men held onto their lead for the rest of the game, although Acadia did come close to tying the game early in the third.

Despite staying scoreless for the first 10 minutes, StFX dominated the first period, scoring three unanswered goals to put the X-Men up big.

Second star of the game, Remy Giftopoulos, pointed out that the opening period was a tough way to start the game.

“Yah you know what, that first period was a back breaker for us and we know we have to come up stronger if you want to compete against a solid team like StFX”, pointed out Giftopolous.

“I thought we played pretty well in the second and third period but it comes back to that start but sometimes it’s too little and too late”, said Giftopoulos.

The first goal came from X-Men forward Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, N.S.), with a wrist shot at the left side of the Acadia net, which momentarily fooled the players and the crowd.

For their second of the period, third year forward Eric Locke (Toronto, Ont.), one-timed a beautiful, cross-ice pass from Holden Cook (Oshawa, Ont.), to give StFX a 2-0 lead.Read more »

Axemen earn point in OT loss

(FREDERICTON, NB) Philippe Maillet scored a highlight reel goal 1:12 into overtime as the UNB Varsity Reds beat the Acadia Axemen 2-1, Saturday night.

Maillet raced through centre ice and pushed around an Axemen defender before lifting the puck over Acadia goaltender Robert Steeves(Moncton, NB), on the short side.

“It was 3 on 3, so there’s a lot of space on the ice and I had a forward against me, so I just tried to take it to him and just finished up top shelf,” said Maillet.

The Axemen opened the scoring in the first period when Geoff Schemitsch(Thornhill, ON) scored at the 11:30 mark.

That 1-0 lead held until Maillet scored at 14:58 of the second period, banging a rebound past Steeves.

Both teams traded opportunities through the third period, but Steeves and Varsity Reds netminder Etienne Marcoux(Terrebonne, QC) held their ground.

Acadia went on the offensive early in the overtime, but a quick pass from defenceman Matt Petgrave(Brampton, ON) sent Maillet up ice to end the game in spectacular style.Read more »

Steeves stars in goal, Lepkowski nets winner

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Acadia didn’t have a lot of opportunities in the game, but they made the few they had count.

The Axemen scored twice on just 13 shots on goal, with Remy Giftopoulos and Alexander Lepkowski leading the way with a goal each in a 2-1 victory over the UPEI Panthers Friday night.

Down two heading into the final period, the Panthers outplayed their opponent and trimmed it to a single goal on RT Rice’s sixth goal of the season. But goaltender Robert Steeves was too much for the home team to overcome.

“I’m really happy for him,” said Axemen head coach Darren Burns of Steeves. “He’s had a big year for us and our guys love playing in front of him.”

Steeves recorded 25 saves on 26 shots, including 10 in the decisive final period, guiding Acadia (15-7-1) to their eighth win in their last 10 games.

Coming into the game, Steeves split playing time with freshman Devin Williams. But after Friday’s performance, the third-year netminder might see more action between the pipes. In 12 games, Steeves owns a 9-3 record with a 2.17 goals against average and a .920 save percentage.

“He’s worked hard and he’s a great teammate,” Burns said. “He’s had a great season for us and we need him to keep doing that.”

The intensity was high, with both teams looking to get back in the win column. Shots on net were scarce as the defences played disciplined and didn’t give up many open looks.

That lasted until the midway point when Giftopoulos opened the scoring. From the side of the net, he corralled a bouncing puck with his stick and buried it past a diving Matt Mahalak for the early advantage. Read more »

Leier notches lone Axemen goal

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – It was a battle between first and second placed teams in the AUS standings in Wolfville on Saturday night, as the U Sports No. 1 UNB Varsity Reds (17-2-3) defeated the U Sports No. 4 ranked Acadia Axemen (14-7-1), by a score of 6-1. Although Acadia jumped out to an early first period lead, UNB scored six unanswered goals to rebound from an overtime win against Saint Mary’s in Friday night’s matchup in Halifax.

Acadia scored on their first shot of the game when forward Boston Leier (Saskatoon, Sask.) skated through three UNB defenders before going 1-on-1 with Reds goalie Etienne Marcoux (Terrebonne, Que.). Leier faked to go forehand, then moved to his backhand and lifted it over the right pad of Marcoux to ignite the home crowd of 2015 and put Acadia up 1-0.Read more »