Axemen advance to AUS Finals with 3-1 series win over Moncton
MONCTON, N.B. - The Acadia pulled off a 3-2 win over the Moncton Aigles Bleus to capture the best of five series in four games and will advance to the AUS Finals best of five series against the Saint Mary's Huskies.
MONCTON, N.B. - The Acadia Axemen pulled off a 3-2 win over the Moncton Aigles Bleus to capture the best of five series in four games and will advance to the AUS Finals best of five series against the Saint Mary's Huskies.
The Huskies eliminated the first place finishing UNB Varsity Reds in four games that included tonight's 1-0 win in Halifax.
The Axemen threw the first stone with a goal only 11 seconds into the opening period. Mike Cazzola's opening marker matched that of the previous three games where a goal was scored either by the Axemen or Aigles Bleus in the opening minute.
Just under four minutes later, veteran blue liner Chris Owens' shot from the high slot to give the Axemen a 2-0 lead. Playoff leading scorer Alex Emond scored his sixth goal on the man-advantage with five minutes remaining in the first period to cut the lead in half.
Luc Williams tied the game at 8:26 in the second period for the Aigles Blues but Acadia's Dustin Ekelman scored the eventual game winner with under five minutes remaining in the second frame.
A scoreless third period ended an exciting game where Acadia's Evan Mosher repelled 19 shots while Moncton's Adrien Lemay backstopped 25 shots. Outshot in the first period 8-7, Acadia managed to hold an 11-6 and 10-7edge in the second and third periods.
Both teams were one for four on the powerplay.
The Axemen will host the first two games in a best of five game AUS Final series against Saint Mary's, since they are the highest remaining seeded team. The Axemen defeated Saint Mary's in all four meetings this past regular season. The Huskies finished fifth in the standings with a 14-14 record and swept the first three game quarterfinals series against UPEI and then won the best of five semifinal series against UNB in four games.
The last time Acadia was in the AUS finals was in 2005-06 where they swept UNB in three games to win their eighth championship. Last season the Huskies eliminated Acadia in four games of a best of five semi-final series.