Axemen Edge Tommies 7-6 in Overtime

The Acadia Axemen welcomed the St. Thomas Tommies to Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville Saturday night. The Axemen were riding a two game winning streak going into the game. What was supposed to be a convincing win for the Axemen turned into a 7-6 overtime nail biter.

The Tommies struck first on a strange bounce that beat rookie netminder Robert Steeves early in the first. Then they sat back and watched as the Axemen began a 19 shot barrage on their netminder. Luke Lee-Knight allowed five goals as the Axemen simply rolled over the Tommies in the first. When the dust settled, the Axemen had built a comfortable 5-1 lead. Mike Cazzola scored twice, with Liam Heelis, Remy Giftopoulos, and Matthew Pufahl adding singles. Ranklyn Campbell replied for the Tommies.

Acadia held a 19-14 advantage in shots in the first period.

The game seemed well in hand. When St. Thomas replaced Lee-Knight with Tyson Teichmann in goal, it seemed to be a sidenote. But St. Thomas proved what happens when hard work meets opportunity. They drew upon an incident in which their goaltender got run over behind his net. The incident sparked the Tommies to a new level. They scored three times in the second, two on the power play, to draw within one goal when the period drew to a close.

Zach Hodder scored twice, with Brandon Childerley adding a single. Teichmann turned out to be the ace in the sleeve of the Tommies, as he stuffed all 15 shots the Axemen threw at him. The Axemen outshot the Tommies 15-11.

The third period turned into a sluggish affair, with the Axemen trying to nurse the one goal lead, and the Tommies desperately trying to tie the game. The Axemen had three straight power plays, and while the Tommies bent, they didn’t break. They kept pressing, but when Heelis scored his second goal of the game late in the third, it seemed as though Acadia had dodged a bullet.Read more »

Acadia Hosts UPEI In Home Opener

The Acadia Axemen hockey club thrilled their fans in the 2013-14 season with a dream run that ended just short of their ultimate goal–another CIS championship banner. It’s now the start of the 2014-15 season, and this year’s Axemen are just as hungry.

After undergoing some roster turnover after last season, Acadia looked impressive in their first game of the season, a 4-0 win over the Dalhousie Tigers. On October 17, they welcomed the UPEI Panthers to the newly renamed Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville. In their first game in Wolfville of the new campaign, Acadia defeated UPEI 3-1 in a game that went down to the wire.

The Axemen jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period, with Alex Beaton and Travis Gibbons finding the net. The story of the period, however, was goaltender Brandon Glover. Glover made 12 saves in the frame, some of the spectacular variety. He weathered a five on three power play opportunity, kicked aside a two on one one time chance, and gave the Panthers fits all period long.

The Panther regrouped a bit in the second, managing to solve Glover once on a goal by Matthew Brenton. They drew within one goal, but couldn’t solve Glover again, despite several close calls. Acadia outshot UPEI by an 11-10 margin.Read more »

Acadia Axemen down Dalhousie Tigers 4-0 in AUS Season Opener

The Axemen’s production line started off the season doing what they do best, produce. The top scoring line from a year ago of Liam Heelis, Mike Cazzola, and Brett Thompson picked right up from last year, scoring 3 of Acadia’s 4 goals, and leading the Axemen to a 4-0 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers.

The Axemen outshot the Tigers by a wide margin, with Acadia blasting 45 shots on goal, to Dal’s 16. The Tigers started rookie goaltender Corbin Boes in goal and he played very well, holding the Axemen at bay on many great powerplay chances.

Acadia went with second year goaltender Brandon Glover in goal, he recorded 16 saves for the shutout.

Coach Burns was pleased with the win, noting the battles were won in the trenches tonight saying, “It was a very tough opening game. Dal are vastly improved, they are well coached, can skate, and work hard. This game was a battle from start to finish.”

Acadia opened up the scoring just under 5 minutes into the game when Mike Cazzola fed a beautiful saucer pass through two Dal defenceman, to a streaking Brett Thompson who cradled the pass and put the puck past Boes. Travis Gibbons picked up the second assist on the play.

It looked like that would be the end of the scoring in the first period of play, until Scott Trask was able to find the back of the net with just 30 seconds remaining in the period. Dylan Anderson and rookie Remy Giftopolous picked up the assists on the goal that gave the Axemen a 2-0 lead.

At 6:36 over the 2^nd period, Brett Thompson picked up his second marker of the night, taking a pass from Liam Heelis and sliding it home. Daniel Poliziani picked up the second assist on the play. That was the only goal of the second period.Read more »