Axemen Earn Point to Enter Break Tied for Second in AUS

The game was billed as a head to head matchup of two bitter rivals, two of the top 5 best teams in the country, two teams sitting atop the AUS separated by only one point… and the two teams lived up to the billing tonight.

Right from the first faceoff, there was a playoff like intensity to the game, where any mistake or misplay seemed to be magnified and every loose puck was a battle, all of which made for great hockey to watch.

The first period was a scoreless affair, with the shots on goal showing SMU ahead 9-6, however, the scoring chances heavily favored the Axemen as they had some great chances to get on the board, but Anthony Peters was sharp when he had to be, and there was a few pucks that just missed net. The Axemen best chance came off the stick of Tyler Ferry who broke in on a two on one with Mike Cazzola; Cazzola fed the puck over to Ferry who redirected the puck just over the gaping net. Then with just under two minutes remaining in the period, league leading scorer Brett Thompson stepped out from the side of the net and found himself alone with Peters; there wasn’t much room but Thompson tried to tuck the puck upstairs, but ended up getting too much of it and sent the puck over the glass.

Meanwhile, Axemen goalie Brandon Glover turned away all 9 shots he faced in the opening period. Early in the second period, Glover made a great save to keep the game scoreless; a loose puck came to Huskie sniper Stephen MacAulay at the side of the net, as he went to slide the puck home, Glover stretched his left leg out to make the stop.Read more »

Axemen win 5-1, move into 1st place in AUS

The Acadia Axemen made it 5 straight victories with a 5-1 win over the Dalhousie Tigers on Wednesday night in Wolfville.

With the win, Acadia moves into a first place tie with the UNB Varsity Reds, one point up on the Saint Mary’s Huskies. Acadia will visit SMU on Friday night in the final game of the first half of the season for the Axemen, in a matchup that could decide who will sit on top of the AUS when we ring in 2015.

But back to tonight’s game, Acadia came out strong scoring on the powerplay just 1:02 into the game. After Dal’s Colton Parsons went off for hooking, Acadia’s Geoff Schemitsch wired home his first of the season to put Acadia up 1-0. But the Tigers responded 2:30 later as Alex Cote converted from Mike Evelyn, beating Acadia goalie Brandon Glover, to tie things up.

But not to be denied, the Axemen came right back just :59 seconds later when Tyler Ferry put home a loose puck on a broken play with Alex Beaton and Mike Cazzola to put the home team in the lead for good. Brett Thompson added his second of the night at 7:44, from Cazzola to make it 3-1; And then at 15:02, with Colton Parsons back in the box for Dalhousie, the Axemen made the Tigers pay, as Thompson scored his second of the night, this time on the powerplay, to put his team up 4-1. A lead they took into the first intermission.

After an offensive fury in the first period with five goals scored, the second period saw neither team score, mostly due to the 15 saves Dalhousie goaltender Wendel Vye made to keep the Axemen off the board in the period. Axemen Scott Trask received a 5 minute major for kneeing late in the second period on a play that appeared to be a hip check, but the Tigers player was injured on the play which may have led to the decision on the penalty.Read more »

Axemen win 4th in a Row

A slow start may have been an issue for the Acadia Axemen on Friday night against UPEI, but on Saturday night in Fredericton, they had their finger on the ignition early and exploded with 5 goals in their first 10 minutes of hockey.

That quick start led the way to a 9-5 victory over the St. Thomas Tommies, and gives the CIS #4 ranked Axemen a 11-3 record through 14 games on the season. The scoring barrage opened with Mike Cazzola scoring his first of two on the night, and his 8^th of the season 4:38 into the first period, with Brett Thompson picking up the assist. Just 54 seconds later, 1^st year forward Boston Leier converted on a play with Cazzola and Thompson to make it 2-0. Before that goal could be announced, the Axemen made it 3-rip as another 1^st year forward, Sam Fioretti scored with the assist going to Tyler Ferry.

The Tommies desperate to stop the bleeding, responded 53 seconds later as Connor Sanvido beat Axemen goaltender Robert Steeves to cut the Acadia lead to 3-1.

But 1:07 later Boston Leier netted his second of the game on a play with Sam Fioretti; and 1:42 later, Remy Giftopoulos made it 5-1, with Zach Franko and Liam Heelis picking up helpers. Finally the scoring slowed, at least temporarily, although STU was able to add a second goal at 17:48 of the period as Stephen Janes scored to make it 5-2 after 1 period of play.

Acadia came out strong again in the second period, scoring 3 straight goals, with Cazzola picking up his 2^nd on the night, 9^th of the year, followed by Dylan Anderson getting his first of the season, in just his second game, after returning from a high ankle sprain that had sidelined him for the first 13 games of the season. Captain Liam Heelis scored his 8^th on the season, from Franko and Giftopoulos to make it an 8-2 game. St. Thomas answered back with 2 late 2^nd period goals, one from Felix Poulin, the second from Kody Orr, making it 8-4 after two periods of play.Read more »

Axemen Knock off UPEI, Franko & Giftopolous with 3 pts each

The Acadia Axemen made it three wins in a row, with a 4-3 win over the UPEI Panthers in Charlottetown on Friday night. The Axemen used the third period to score 4 goals, to give them the comeback win, after trailing 2-0 after two period of play.

The Panthers all but owned the first period, firing 19 shots on net, to the Axemen’s 6. But Acadia second year goaltender Brandon Glover stood tall, stopping 18 of 19. Only Cole MacMillan was able to beat Glover, scoring at 14:07 of the first period. Matt Pufahl took a late interference penalty in the first period that carried over into the second, where the Panthers added to their lead with a powerplay marker from Chris Desousa just 20 seconds into the period. That was all for the scoring in the session, as Acadia matched their first period total of 6 shots, but this time held UPEI to just 5 shots on goal.

The third period was a different story altogether. Acadia took advantage of a holding call to UPEI’s David Mazurek, as 1^st year forward Zach Franko continued his hot scoring as of late, scoring on the powerplay from Chris Owens and Remy Giftopoulos. Just under two minutes later, Giftopolous and Franko hooked up again, this time it was Giftopoulos converting for the goal, from Franko and Boston Leier to tie the game at two.

It looked like the Axemen had all of the momentum, but when Acadia goalie Glover was called for delay of game, Chris Desousa made good for the second time on the night with the man advantage, putting UPEI back on top 3-2.Read more »

Road Warrior Axemen knock off 2 of the Top 10 CIS teams

The Acadia Axemen needed a big bounce back weekend, and they did just that. After dropping 2 games at home last weekend, they faced a tough task of hitting the road to face two of the top 10 CIS ranked teams this weekend in Moncton and UNB. The road warrior Axemen accepted the challenge and return home with two W’s.

Saturday night’s matchup saw the #7 ranked Axemen face the #2 ranked UNB Varsity Reds. The Reds were coming off a tough 4-3 loss to SMU last night and came out of the gate slow in the first period against Acadia. The Axemen got on the board first at the 10 minute mark as captain Liam Heelis scored his 7th of the season, with helpers going to Alex Beaton and Matt Pufahl.

The Axemen took the only penalty of the period at 17:48 when Travis Gibbons went off for tripping, and the UNB powerplay made them pay as Phillippe Halley one-timed a pass from Peter Trainor, beating Axemen goalie Brandon Glover. The teams went to the dressing room tied at 1 with UNB getting the edge in shots on goal at 12-7.

Zach Franko got his first on the night on a scramble in front of UNB goalie David Shantz, Shantz stopped 3 shots before Franko was able to get the puck by the sprawling tender. Mike Cazzola and Brett Thompson picked up assists on the tally.

It looked like that might be it for the scoring in the 2^nd, until Phillippe Maillet scored his first of the night at 19:33 to tie the game up, the 2^nd time on the night the Varsity Reds scored a goal in the last minute of the period to tie the game up. Shots on goal in the 2^nd period were even at 12 aside.

With the ice barely dry, UNB was able to score just 15 seconds into the third period as Phillippe Maillet scored his second of the night, and by the game clock, his second in 42 seconds of play.Read more »