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.   

-30- 

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 

Sellan & Burns each score a pair

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Brady Burns and Brendan Sellan each scored twice to lift the Acadia Axemen over the UPEI Panthers 4-2 on Saturday night. 

The game saw 12 penalties, with UPEI amassing 64 penalty minutes and Acadia 56. 

UPEI’s Robert Orr opened the scoring in the second period, but Acadia answered with back-to-back goals from Sellan and Burns. Orr scored again to tie it for UPEI, but Acadia responded in the third, with Sellan and Burns each finding the net again. 

Goaltender Thomas Couture stopped 19 of 21 shots for Acadia. 

The three stars of the game were Orr (UPEI), Burns (Acadia), and Sellan (Acadia). 

Acadia will now hit the road to face Dalhousie on Wednesday and STFX on Saturday, while UPEI heads to Moncton on Friday and UNB on Saturday next week.   

Cam MacDonald with the game winner to complete the hat trick

WOLFVILLE, N.S. — Cam MacDonald completed his hat trick with five seconds left in the third period to lift Acadia to a 6-5 win over Saint Mary’s in AUS men’s hockey action on Wednesday night at Andrew H McCain Arena in Wolfville. 

Derek Gentile opened the scoring for Saint Mary’s, but MacDonald responded with two goals for Acadia. The second period saw Gentile and Will Chisholm score for the Huskies, while Brendan Sellan added a power-play marker for the Axemen. 

In the third, Nathan Dunkley and Gentile scored for Saint Mary’s. Adam McMaster and Brady Burns replied for Acadia before MacDonald’s last-second goal sealed the win. 

MacDonald, Gentile and Burns were named the game’s three stars. 

Attendance was 927. Saint Mary’s had 8 minutes in penalties on four infractions, while Acadia had 24 minutes on eight infractions. 

Acadia continues their homestand when they welcome UPEI on Saturday, while Saint Mary’s heads to UPEI for a Friday night game. Puck drop in both matchups is 7 p.m.