Kidney scores hat-trick in Axemen’s 6-3 win

McCollum stops 27 of 30 shots for Acadia

WOLFVILLE,  N.S. – It was a rousing comeback victory for the Acadia Axemen (2-1-0) on Homecoming weekend against the Moncton Aigles Bleus (1-2-0) on Saturday night.

Rookie Axemen Liam Kidney (Enfield, N.S.) was a big reason for the Acadia victory, as he potted a hat trick in Acadia’s 6-3 win.  He was awarded the Subway First Star of the Night honours for his efforts.

Moncton opened the scoring on the night when Yann-Felix Lapointe (Granby, Que.) wired a puck off the right post and into the net.

The lead was short-lived for the Aigles Bleus, as Acadia forward Liam Kidney tied the game just under a minute later.

Kidney took a shot from the top of the left circle to make it 1-1.

Moncton came storming back with a power-play marker from Vincent Deslauriers (Blainville, Que.) two minutes later. He ripped a shot from the point on the left side that fooled the Acadia goalie and gave the Aigles Bleus their only lead of the game.

Heading into the second, Moncton held a 2-1 lead despite being outshot by the Axemen.

Kidney answered the call for his team again, scoring the first of three unanswered goals on the night for the Axemen in the second period.

For his second goal, Kidney took a pass from Merrick Rippon (Ottawa, Ont.) and ripped a shot past the Moncton goalie Felix-Anthony Ethier (Deux-Montagnes, Que.) to make it 2-2.

Forward Peyton Hoyt (Fredericton, N.B.) potted another marker for the Axemen on a tap-in goal in front of the net to give Acadia their first lead of the game.

To cap off the period, Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, Sask.) scored the first goal of his USPORTS career less than a minute after Hoyt’s to double their lead 4-2. Nagy was named the third star of the night for his efforts.

At the end of the second period, Acadia held a commanding 32-16 lead in shots.

Kidney capped off his hat trick in the third period with a goal in close of the Moncton goal. In the first three games of the season, Kidney has scored five goals, which is good enough for second in the AUS.

For his final goal of the game, Kidney chipped a pass from Brendan Sellan in front of the net to make it 5-2.

Moncton responded with a goal in the final minutes of the game from the second star of the night, Vincent Lanoune (Repentigny, Que.), on a cross-ice tap-in in front of the net.

Nick Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, Ont.) sealed the victory for the Axemen with an empty-net short-handed goal.

Axemen goalie Conor McCollum (Pickering, Ont.) turned aside 27 of 30 shots on the night, while his Moncton counterpart Ethier stopped 38 of 43 shots on the night.

Acadia returns to the ice on Wednesday, Oct. 20 night against Saint Mary’s before returning home on Saturday, Oct. 22 to take on the UPEI Panthers. The puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm. Moncton travels to Saint Mary’s for a rare Sunday evening game.