Burns, Nagy, Kidney, & Hoyt tally for Axemen

By UPEI’s Reegan MacAulay 

The UPEI Panthers (5-9-0-0) still have yet to solve their problems against the Acadia University Axemen (7-6-0-0), who claimed their third win against UPEI this season in a close 4-2 match at the MacLauchlan Arena on Saturday night. 

Despite keeping things tight throughout the game and attempting a comeback rally in the third period, the Panthers couldn’t catch any puck luck in what could’ve been a “third time’s the charm” result had things gone their way. 

Brady Burns opened the scoring only a minute and three seconds into the first period; after a Liam Kidney shot was denied by Panthers goaltender Joe Ranger, the puck bounced back to Kidney, who fed a backhand pass to Burns in front of the net, and he buried a rebound goal into an open net to make it 1-0 Acadia. 

The rest of the first period went scoreless albeit both teams getting opportunities on the man advantage. Early in the second period, UPEI finally got on the board with a wonky game-tying goal at the 5:45 mark. Cole Larkin fired a shot toward Axemen goaltender Thomas Couture from the red line, and the puck took a weird bounce and landed on the stick of Patrick LeBlanc, who rushed to the net and fired a knuckle puck far-side rebound over Couture’s glove for his fourth goal of the season. 

Each team continued to exchange penalties for about the next 10 minutes, with one being fatal for UPEI; after a Cole Nagy shot was blocked by Keiran Gallant, the puck bounced to Charlie DesRoches in the high slot, who fired a low shot on Ranger and was denied, which was then rebounded into the net along the post by Nagy to give Acadia a 2-1 lead at the 17:07 mark. 

The first half of the third period saw the Panthers do a solid job consistently staying in the Axemen zone and firing everything they had at Couture. Unfortunately, nearing the halfway mark, the momentum was broken by a Derek Pys turnover in the neutral zone, which sent Kidney and Adam McMaster on a 2-on-1 rush toward Ranger, and Kidney sniped a far-side shot past Ranger’s blocker to give his team a 3-1 lead at the 9:11 mark. 

A few minutes later, UPEI found some luck with two Axemen penalties within 1:21 of each other, and the first power play gave the Panthers hope; Ben McFarlane rushed up the center of the ice, fed a pass to Kaleb Pearson at the blue line on the right-wing side, and Pearson fired the puck to the low slot which deflected off McFarlane’s stick and over Couture’s glove for McFarlane’s 10th goal of the season at the 12:50 mark, extending his goal streak to four games (five goals within that stretch). 

Sadly, that’s all the Panthers had left in the tank for the rest of the game. Their late rally was cut short by a scrum at the 18:03 mark after a big hit by Pearson on Burns in an Axemen zone corner, and, later, an empty-net goal by Peyton Hoyt. 

Couture denied 24 of 26 shots for his sixth win of the season, improving his record to 6-5-0, while Ranger stopped 14 of 17 shots, dropping his record to 1-6-0. Brett Bressette was named the Panthers Player of the Game. 

The Panthers look to end their two-game losing streak at home next Wednesday, Nov. 20, but it will come with a tough match against the league-leading UNB Reds. The Axemen remain on the road for the rest of the month, with their next trip (second of five consecutive away games) being to St. FX on Friday, Nov. 22. 

Hoyt with Axemen goal, Couture stops 39 shots

WOLFVILLE – The UNB REDS secured a decisive 6-1 victory over the Acadia Axemen on Saturday night in AUS men’s hockey action in Wolfville in front of 1,177 fans. 

UNB’s Drew Elliott (Musquash, NB) opened the scoring in the first period, assisted by Peter Reynolds (Fredericton, NB) and Sean McGurn (Ottawa, ON), before Reynolds himself added a goal with help from Benjamin Corbeil (Granby, QC) and Emmett Sproule (Collingwood, ON), giving the Reds a 2-0 lead. 

Acadia responded in the second period with a goal from Peyton Hoyt (Fredericton, NB), assisted by Bailey Peach (Falmouth, NS). However, UNB’s Michael Petizian (Mississauga, ON) countered soon after with a goal assisted by Camaryn Baber (Sault St. Marie, ON), restoring UNB’s two-goal cushion heading into the third. 

In the final period, UNB’s offense took over, with Cody Morgan (Gilford, ON), Corbeil, and Kale McCallum (Rothesay, NB) each finding the back of the net, extending the Reds’ lead to 6-1. Corbeil had a standout game, contributing to three goals. 

UNB goalie Samuel Richard (Ste. Catherine, QC) was a solid presence in net, stopping 24 of 25 shots. Acadia’s Thomas Couture (Levis, QC) faced a heavy workload with 45 shots, saving 39. Hoyt earned first-star honors for Acadia, while McCallum and Petizian took the remaining stars for UNB. 

The Axemen, now looking to bounce back, will face UPEI on the road next Saturday. Meanwhile, UNB heads to Halifax to take on Dalhousie on Friday before visiting STFX on Saturday. 

Couture with 32 saves in the win

WOLFVILLE – The Acadia Axemen edged the Moncton Aigles Bleus 4-3 in a hard-fought hockey game on Friday. 

Orlando Mainolfi put Acadia on the board in the first period, scoring off assists from Conor Shortall and Peyton Hoyt. 

The Axemen extended their lead in the second with goals from Liam Kidney, Corson Hopwo, and Cam MacDonald on the power play. Moncton rallied in the third, scoring three goals from Jérémy Michel, Thomas Pelletier, and Jacob Dion, but fell short of a comeback. 

Jacob Dion (Moncton), Thomas Couture (Acadia), and Liam Kidney (Acadia) were named the game’s three stars. 

The game was marked by heavy penalties, with Moncton and Acadia racking up 44 and 54 penalty minutes, respectively. 

Saturday the Axemen host the UNB REDS, while Moncton heads to Halifax to face Saint Mary’s.  

Friday, November 8th at 7pm

Mairs with the lone Axemen goal, Couture with 47 saves

ANTIGONISH, NS – The STFX X-Men made it a four-point weekend with a hard fought 2-1 victory over the visiting Acadia Axemen on Saturday night at the Charles V Keating Centre. Gabriel Pizza Player of the Game STFX goalie Lucas Pfeil (Owen Sound, ON) made 33 in the win, while Ben Mercer (Halifax, NS) notched the game winner late in the third period.   

With Acadia defeating STFX 8-3 the last time the Axemen were in town, the X-Men came out of the gate with a point to prove. They fired plenty of shots at Acadia netminder Thomas Couture (Levis, QC) early on, but weren’t able to light the lamp.   

It was the Axemen who opened the scoring nine minutes into the game, as Marc Boudreau (Toronto, ON) snagged a long stretch pass from Conor Shortall (St. John’s, NL) along the boards and fed Brendan Mairs (London, ON) in the high slot for the goal. Shots at the end of 20 minutes were 16-11 for the home team.   

The X-Men came out firing in the second period, generating more shots on goal in the first 10 minutes. They found their tying goal with under five minutes to go in the stanza, as Conner Roberts (Owen Sound, ON) hit a streaking Ethan Burroughs (Georgetown, ON) with a breakaway pass, and Burroughs stuffed it home on his second chance shot. Shots at the end of 40 minutes were 32-18 for STFX.   

The Axemen went on the powerplay six minutes into the third period, but the X-Men penalty kill and strong play from Pfeil kept it 1-1. Mercer’s game winner came with 3:30 left to play, after third star Charlie Callaghan (Toronto, ON) put a pass on his stick from behind the Acadia net, and Mercer sent it to the back of the net. Ryan Struthers (Milton, ON) had the second assist.   

Couture made 47 saves for the visitors, picking up second star of the game honors along the way.   

The X-Men return to action mid-week, when they will head to Halifax for a visit with the Dalhousie Tigers on Wednesday, November 6, at 7 p.m. The Axemen return to home ice for their next game, a matchup on Friday, November 8 with the Moncton Aigles Bleus at 7 p.m.   

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Recap courtesy Matt Draper, STFX Athletics 

Saturday, November 2nd at 7pm

Axemen captain, Peyton Hoyt nets hat trick

[Halifax, NS] The Acadia Axemen defeated the Dalhousie Tigers 10-3 on Wednesday evening at the Halifax Forum. 

The first period saw the Axemen take control early thanks to a goal from Peyton Hoyt (Lincoln, NB). However, this lead would not last long, as Dal equalized just over halfway through the period through Brody Fournier (Perth, ON) after he was set up by teammate Barret Kirwin (Barrie, ON). Both teams remained deadlocked for the rest of the interval until the Axemen scored with just 21 seconds left on the clock to go to the break with a 2-1 advantage. 

The Tigers pulled even for the second time around five minutes after the restart, as Colin MacDougall (Carlisle, ON) found his way on to the scoresheet. This lit a fire under the Axemen, as they tallied thrice in quick order from Brady Burns (Port Williams, NS), Cam MacDonald (Hammonds Plains, NS), and Hoyt respectively to put themselves firmly in front.  

After comebacks from the Tigers in the first two periods, there was no such momentum in the third. Acadia’s Hoyt completed his hat-trick before his team added goal after goal to their tally as Dal faded down the stretch. Goaltender Robbie Forbes (Oakville, ON) performed admirably as made 40 saves on the night for the home side, but simply could not keep the puck out of his net as the final buzzer drew near. By night’s end, the Axemen had seven separate goal scorers on the scoresheet. 

Hoyt was named the player of the game for the Axemen. 

Dal drops to 1-8 on the season with the loss. The win sees the Axemen move to 5-4 and marks their third triumph on the bounce. 

Both the Tigers and Acadia will be back on the ice on Saturday night at 7PM AST, with Dal visiting SMU while the Axemen duel with STFX. 

Recap by Wells Mayes 

Photos by Trevor MacMillan