Despite spectacular goaltending from X-Men Owsley, Axemen prevail

A hot goalie can often mean the difference between victory and defeat.  On Saturday night, this was painfully evident to the Acadia Axemen.

The Axemen took on the St. FX X-Men in Wolfville last Saturday.  In their previous meeting, the Axemen had put away the X-Men in Antigonish by a 2-1 score.  Coming off a 7-2 win against Dalhousie the night before, it appeared as though the Axemen had regained their scoring touch.

The Axemen jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first period, riding an 18-5 edge in shots.  The second period brought more of the same, as Acadia began a 24 shot barrage on the St. FX goal.  But X-Men goaltender Drew Owsley proved to be more than equal to the task, making several key saves in rapid succession to keep his St. FX squad in the game.  Acadia struck on the power play to open a 3-1 lead, but Owsley’s outstanding play kept the Axemen from opening up a wider lead and putting the game away early.  At the end of the second period, the score read Acadia 3, St. FX 2.Read more »

Thompson leads the way with four points in the win

It was a cold night in the Halifax Forum on Friday night, where it felt more like a game being played outdoors than in; the Axemen took some time to warm up and find their game, but once they did it became a one sided affair as Acadia went on to win 7-2 over Dalhousie.

Brett Thompson led the way for the Axemen with a goal and three assists, while Michael Clarke chipped in with two goals.

Bobby Nadeau took the loss for Dal (2-18-1) surrendering all 7 goals on 42 shots, while Evan Mosher continued his strong play for the Axemen (16-2-3), stopping 30 of 32 shots.

The Axemen got on the board with just over 5 minutes left in the first period, when Dal’s Fabian Walsh went off for hooking. Acadia’s powerplay went to work with Mike Cazzola opening the scoring, with Brett Thompson and Liam Heelis picking up the helpers.

Dal came close to tying it up with three minutes remaining as Chris Ivanko came down the wing and rang a shot off the post, but the period ended with a 1-0 score.Read more »

All good things must come to an end.

story from Justin Halbersma of openingfaceoff.net

The Acadia Axemen traveled through New Brunswick this past weekend, taking on the UNB Varsity Reds on Friday and the Moncton Blue Eagles on Saturday. A possible four points were up for grabs. The Axemen managed one.

Their five game winning streak came to a premature end against the Varsity Reds, as Acadia fell 5-3 to UNB. In a back-and-forth affair, it was ultimately decided late in the third as the Reds capitalized on some sloppy play in the Acadia end to seal the game with a shorthanded marker.
Thomas Nesbitt scored twice for the Reds in what could be a playoff preview. Phillipe Maillet, Chris Culligan, and Cam Critchlow all added singles. Mike Cazzola, Liam Heelis, and Tyler Ferry replied for Acadia.

Acadia’s Evan Mosher stopped 25 of 30 shots in the loss. Charles Lavigne stopped 26 of 29 Acadia shots for UNB.

Stinging from this defeat, the Axemen took to the ice in Moncton on Saturday evening. At first, it appeared as though the Blue Eagles would run Acadia right out of the rink. At the end of a disastrous first period for Acadia, the score read 4-1 Moncton. The barrage left Axemen starting goalie Brandon Glover pulled in favor of Evan Mosher, and left the Axemen looking dazed and confused. The Eagles took full advantage of the lack of Axemen discipline, scoring three times on the power play in the first.Read more »

CIS No. 3 Axemen lose first game against No. 4 UNB

Axemen down St. FX 2-1

game story from Justin Halbersma of openingfaceoff.net

Adversity gives birth to character.  The Acadia Axemen certainly faced some adversity when they traveled to Antigonish Saturday evening to take on the St.FX X-Men in AUS hockey action…and in a true test of their character, they gritted out a tough 2-1 victory.  The win marked their fifth straight win.

It wasn’t the prettiest of games for either team, as it was a tightly contested battle from the beginning.  Both goalies brought their “A” games…Evan Mosher for Acadia staring down Drew Owsley, the X-Men goaltender.  In the end, it was Mosher who walked away with the victory, stopping 22 of 23 shots in the process.  Owsley matched him save for save, making 18 stops.  In the end, the Axemen squeaked two past him and that was all Mosher needed, making the lead stand up for his Axemen.

Michael Clarke and Travis Randell scored for the Axemen, while Jarrad Struthers replied for the X-Men.  The X-Men got their goal on the power play.Read more »

Axemen Cage Huskies; Mosher Spectacular

story from Justin Halbersma of openingfaceoff.net

Evan Mosher of the Acadia Axemen leads the AUS Conference with a 0.932 save percentage.  On Friday, January 10, the Acadia netminder proved once again why he is the league leader.

In fact, he proved it 28 times, allowing only one goal on 29 shots as the Acadia Axemen returned home to Acadia Arena after a two game road trip and promptly dispatched the visiting St. Mary’s Huskies 5-1 before a sellout home crowd.

Acadia set the tone of the game early, scoring 54 seconds in.  The Axemen and Huskies played a pretty even period, but it was Acadia who would take a 2-0 lead, outshooting the Huskies 10-8 in the first frame.

But it was only a matter of time for the Acadia team, ranked third in the country in the CIS rankings, and they took over in the second, scoring three times in a frenetically paced period.  They outshot the Huskies in the second frame 14-8, allowing only one goal on a onetimer in front of their net.  The score read 5-1, and the rink was rocking.  Shots on goal after two periods read Acadia 24, St. Mary’s 16.Read more »

Hockey Axemen hold onto first place with 5-2 over UPEI

story courtesy of hockey.acadiau.ca

CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. – The CIS No. 3 ranked Acadia Axemen improve to 13-1-2 and hold a 5 point lead on the UNB Varsity Reds for first place in the AUS standings, with a 5-2 win over the UPEI Panthers.

Acadia took a 2-0 first period lead off of goals from Michael Clarke at 13:13 and then sniper Brett Thompson added his sixth goal of the regular season a minute and twenty four seconds later.

Panther Travis McIsaac narrowed the lead to one with a powerplay goal in the second period.

The Axemen took a commanding 4-1 lead after two quick goals early in the third period. Mike Cazzola scored his fifth goal of the season on the man-advantage and teammate Dustin Ekelman scored his second goal of the weekend just over two minutes after Cazzola.Read more »

Heelis nets 3 goals in Acadia’s 9-1 win over STU

story courtesy of hockey.acadiau.ca

FREDERICTON, N.B. – The Acadia Axemen hockey team improved their record to 12-1-2 with a lopsided 9-1 win over the St. Thomas Tommies. With the win, the CIS No. 3 ranked Axemen hold onto first place in the AUS standings.

Third year forward and team captain, Liam Heelis, was named the Subway First Star of the Game, picking up three goals and two assists in the win over St. Thomas. Heelis leads the AUS and CIS with 16 goals and 11 assists in 15 games.

Heelis scored his first of three goals at the 13 minute mark of the opening period. The Axemen took a 2-0 lead when Travis Randell netted his first goal of the regular season with 13 seconds remaining in the first frame.

Dustin Ekelman scored the only goal of the second period with 53 seconds remaining to give Acadia a 3-0 lead.Read more »