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 »

Winter Universiade men’s hockey Canada edges defending champ Russia, to play for gold on Saturday

story courtesy of cis-sic.ca

Photo credit Max Pattis

TRENTINO, Italy (CIS) – Tyler Carroll from the University of New Brunswick had a goal and an assist as the Canadian men’s hockey team advanced to the gold-medal final at the Winter Universiade thanks to a 2-1 semifinal victory over defending two-time champion Russia, Friday afternoon.

It was a remarkable win for the team comprised of Atlantic University Sport all-stars, who were facing a powerful opponent which entered the contest with an unblemished 4-0 record, having outscored its rivals by a 25-3 margin in the process. The Russian lineup includes 11 players with KHL experience, nine of them currently skating in the league.

Canada (4-1) will face either Kazakhstan or the United States in the championship match Saturday at 8:30 a.m. EST (2:30 p.m. Trentino), live on www.fisu.tv.Read more »