Heelis nets 3 goals in Acadia's 9-2 win over STU

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.

Heelis added his second and final goal in the opening 10 minutes of the final period, giving Acadia five unanswered goals. The first goal was on the powerplay followed by a shorthanded goal at 10:28.

Finally the Tommies got on the scoreboard on an unassisted goal with the man-advantage by Brendan Childerley - his fifth goal of the regular season.

Axeman Mike Cazzola pushed the lead to 6-1, scoring his fourth goal of the year, good enough for third place in points race with four goals and 15 assists.

Rookie forward Chris Buonomo pocketed two goals less than two minutes apart on the powerplay to give Acadia an 8-1 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the game.

Leo Jenner added a goal with 10 seconds remaining in the game to give Acadia a 9-1 win over the 4-10-1 Tommies. Goaltender Evan Mosher recorded the win for the Axemen, stopping 11 shots. Mosher leads the AUS in goaltending with a 1.75 goals against average in 11 starts.

The Axemen, who out-shot St. Thomas 41-12, will head to "Island" to take on the rested UPEI Panthers. UPEI did not play tonight due to a weather related game postponement. The Panthers are 6-5-1 with two games in hand.

Acadia returns home on Friday, January 10, hosting the Saint Mary's Huskies at 7pm at the Acadia Arena in Wolfville.

Photo Credit: Tom Bateman