Hockey Axemen tied for first after pair of weekend wins
The Acadia hockey Axemen began the week Jan. 26 in first place in the AUHC – technically, at least – after weekend wins on home ice over Moncton and UNB.
The victories, 6-4 over Moncton Jan. 23 and 4-1 over UNB Jan. 24, gave Acadia a record of 18 wins, four losses and two overtime losses for 38 points.
UNB (18-3-2) also had 38 points, but Acadia’s Jan. 24 win was their third over the V-Reds this season, clinching the season series and the tiebreaker if the teams should end up tied in the standings. UNB had a game in hand, which they were scheduled to make up when they hosted St. Thomas Jan. 28.
In the UNB game, the V-Reds opened the scoring on a power play goal by Cam Braes at 5:30 of the opening period. Alex Beaton got the Axemen on the board with a power play goal at 12:01 of the second period. The goal was originally credited to Liam Heelis, who ended up with an assist on the play, along with Mike Cazzola.
Then, at 16:26 of the second, Brett Thompson sprung Zach Franko in alone on UNB goalie David Shantz, with Franko’s marker securing a 2-1 Axemen lead.
At 17:02 of the third, with UNB pressing, Beaton intercepted the puck at centre ice, split the defence, then beat Shantz with a nifty deke to make it 3-1.
With Shantz on the bench for an extra attacker, Remi Giftopolous did some nice work along the boards to keep control of the puck, then fed Beaton for the empty netter to complete his hat trick at 19:17.
Against Moncton, Chris Owens opened the scoring for the Axemen with a power play goal at 3:15 of the first period, assisted by Thompson and Cazzola.
M o n c t o n responded a little over a minute later with a goal from Alain Saulnier, but just 42 seconds after that, Dylan Anderson gave Acadia a 21 lead.
There was no more scoring until 8:33 of the second, when Maxime Pilon tied the score 2-2. Jean-Francois Plante then gave the Aigles Bleus a 3-2 lead after two periods with an even-strength goal at 16:02.
The third period was all Acadia as the Axemen scored four goals to Moncton’s one. Cazzola had one of the markers, while two of the goals came from Thompson and the fourth Acadia goal was an empty netter from Giftopolous.
Alex Saulnier had the lone Moncton goal.
Acadia takes to the road to UNB Jan. 30 and Moncton Jan. 31 for their secondlast weekend of the regular season.
Hoop Axewomen score first regular season win, 77-70 at St. F.X.
The Acadia basketball teams gained a split of their Jan. 23 games at St. F.X., and for a change, the team that won was the Axewomen.
The Axewomen, who entered the game winless on the season at 0-11, defeated St. F.X. 77-70.
The Acadia women have been vastly improved since Christmas, but hadn’t previously seen any real rewards on the scoreboard, or in the standings.
All five Acadia starters scored in double figures, led by 19 from Paloma Anderson and 15 from Chanel Smith, who also had seven rebounds.
Aprille Deus added 12 points, four rebounds and five assists. Jenalle Vanhie had 12 points, six rebounds and five steals, and Allie Berry 12 points and seven rebounds.
As a team, Acadia had 12 steals, blocked shots and just 16 turnovers.
The Axemen weren’t so fortunate in the game that followed, dropping a 77-71 decision to St. F.X. to fall to 4-8 on the season.
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For the Axemen, Sean Stoqua finished with 21 points, a total that included five threes. Shaquille Smith added 16 points and seven rebounds. Rhys Larry finished with nine points, Ben Miller had eight and Kyle Arseneault had seven.
Volleyball Axewomen competitive in straight-sets loss to UNB
The Acadia women’s volleyball team likely deserved better than they ended up with in a straight-sets loss Jan. 24 against UNB in Wolfville. Acadia lost all three sets, but by scores of 27-25, 26-24, 25-19.
Sarah Ross, in the midst of an all-star calibre season, had 12 kills and 36 total attack points for the Axewomen. Jazmin Logue Prest added nine kills and 26 attack points, and also had seven digs. Carlotta Frasca added eight kills and 26 attack points.
Hillary Monette finished with 17 digs, and Olivia Boudreault had 15 assists and Tessa Bulmer 12.