Acadia Axemen win one, lose one

In their first meeting of the season, the Saint Mary’s Huskies stopped a two-game losing streak with a 4-2 win against the Acadia Axemen in AUS men’s hockey action at the Halifax Forum.

The Axemen struck first at 7:56 into the first period. Defenseman Marc McNulty had some room and made his way slowly through the neutral zone before crossing with Stephen Harper at the top of the slot. Harper’s one-timer beat SMU goalie Eric for Harper’s fifth goal of the season.

A shot from Nicholas Welsh on the powerplay was stopped by Axemen goaltender Logan Flodell, but Logan Denoble was there to tap home the rebound for the Huskies.

Tied at one after one period of play that was dominated by the Axemen, the hometown Huskies came out sharper leading Acadia 21-7 in shots during the second frame.

Four minutes into the second period, Bronson Beaton buried a sharp angle wrist shot upstairs to give the Huskies their first 2- 1 lead of the game that would hold in to the final period.

Dylan Di Perna scored the Huskies’ second power play goal of the night. Aaron Berisha tipped in a shot from Jake Coughler to give Saint Mary’s a 4-1 lead.

With five minutes remaining in the game, Acadia scored to pull within two goals. A shot from Ross MacDougall was saved by Brassard but Johnny Corneil found the rebound for the Axemen.

Acadia pulled their goalie but couldn’t find the back of the net in the remaining time.

The two teams played again at the Forum on Nov. 14 (results unavailable at press time).

The Acadia Axemen (4-7-1) got a much-needed win and snapped a two-game losing skid on Sunday afternoon, beating the Moncton Aigles Bleus with a convincing 5-1 win.

Acadia opened the scoring early, with a power-play marker from forward Kyle Farrell.

The Axemen doubled their lead before the half-way mark of the period with a beautiful goal from defenseman – and Subway First Star of the Night – Ross MacDougall

Cristiano Digiacinto added to Acadia’s lead in the first frame when the Axemen forward potted a rebound that came off the top of the net and landed in the crease, making it 3-0.

Acadia spent the rest of the period killing off penalties, as Moncton went 0-for-4 on the power-play in the first period.

The Axemen led 13- 9 in shots on goal and after a scoreless second period, the margin grew to 29- 20 for the Axemen.

Moncton got on the scoreboard before the half- way point of the third frame, with a goal from Aigles Bleus forward Maxime St-Cyr, who scored on a wrist shot that fooled the Axemen goalie.

That was as close to tying the game as Moncton would get, as rookie Axemen forward Garrett McFadden scored his first goal of his U SPORTS career.

Stephen Harper added an insurance marker in the last minute of the final period when he crashed the net and drove the puck in to make it 5- 1.

Axemen goaltender Logan Flodell turned aside 23 of 24 shots, while his Moncton counterpart Etienne Montpetit stopped 35 of 40 shots.

The second and third stars of the night were Moncton forward Marc-Anthony Therrien and Axemen forward Kyle Farrell, respectively.

The Axemen head out on a four-game road trip take to the ice again at home on Friday, Nov. 30 against the UPEI Panthers. Puck drop is at 7 p.m.