No. 2 Axemen post 6-3 win vs Huskies in game one of Finals

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - The CIS No. 2 ranked Acadia Axemen take a 1-0 lead in the best of five AUS Subway men's hockey Final with a 6-3 win over the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies.

Just as one would expect in a playoff series, tonight's game had its fair share of scrums and rough stuff after the whistle. Special teams were the difference as both teams combined for a total of six powerplay goals on 17 attempts.

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A day after being named as an AUS first all-star, Chris Owens scored two goals and added one assist to go along with his +1 season rating. His clutch performance earned him the Subway's First Star of the Game.

It didn't take long to open the scoring, as the home team Axemen drew first blood on the man-advantage. Third Star of the Game Cullen Morin put a wrist shot on net with traffic in front, fooling Anthony Peters who didn't move until the goal light came on.

The Huskies responded quickly just over two minutes later, when Lucas Bloodoff took advantage of the extra man. Scoring his first of two goals on a wrist shot from just inside the ringette line, Bloodoff tied the game at one heading into the first intermission.

Acadia continued their strong play into the second frame, starting the period on a textbook goal. Chris Owens skated in along the boards and as soon as he crossed the goal line, sent a hard pass out front to AUS Most Valuable Player, Liam Heelis, who netted his fifth goal of the playoffs.

Rookie Taylor Makin scored a beautiful goal for his first career AUS playoff goal, undressing a Huskie defenseman by putting it in-between his legs; skating in on a partial breakaway and ripping a shot past Anthony Peters' far side blocker.

Assistant captain, Colin Archer, extended the lead to 4-1 and scored the eventual game winner with just under two minutes remaining in the second frame. Archer had a nifty waist high tip-in on an Alex Beaton shot from just inside the blue line.

Five minutes into the third period, Chris Owens picked up his first of two goals.  After faking a shot, Liam Heelis quickly fed it over to Owens who made no mistake sending it to the back of the net.

After an Acadia timeout, it was Saint Mary's who capitalized on the man-advantage, scoring 15 seconds into an Acadia hooking penalty. The second of four third period powerplay goals was scored by Huskie Michael D'Orazio 12 minutes into the third.

On a controversial butt ending call, Huskies' captain Lucas Bloodoff tipped in a snap shot from just outside the blue paint in between the legs of conference leading goaltender Evan Mosher to close the lead to 5-3.

Owens relieved some stress from the nearly sold out crowd, wiring one past Huskie netminder Anthony Peters, who had no chance on the screened shot. Peters made 16 saves in the losing effort, while Acadia's Mosher repelled 24.

The last time the Huskies and Axemen met in the playoffs was last year in the semi -finals. The Huskies beat the Acadia in four games and earned their spot in the AUS Finals, which they later ended up winning. This past season, Acadia has taken all four regular season games, outscoring Saint Mary's 16-7.

The Axemen will host game two tomorrow night at the Acadia Arena, followed by games three and four (if necessary) in Halifax on Sunday and Monday.

Submitted by Mitchell Racine – Acadia Sports Information