CIS No. 3 Axemen drop No. 4 Huskies in 5-4 win

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - The first home match up of the New Year was set to be an exciting one as both teams looked to make a push for the top spot in the AUS standings during the second half of the season. Saint Mary's entered the game only one point behind the Acadia Axemen in the standings. Prior to tonight's Axemen 5-4 win, the Huskies lead the regular season series of four games 2-0 with both games being won by only a single goal.

The Huskies wasted no time opening the scoring early, two minutes in, capitalizing on an Acadia turn over below the goal line, Alex Cord netted his first goal of the regular season under the blocker arm of Brandon Glover.

Following a Saint Mary's hooking call, Michael Clarke capitalized off of a miscue by a Huskie defenseman, returning the favour just 76 seconds later, rifling one off the cross bar and in.

With under a minute to play in the opening frame, third year forward Brett Thompson caught Huskies on a line change, allowing him to break away on his own, scoring on Anthony Peters on the far side to give Acadia their first lead.

The lead didn't last long as the Huskies took advantage of a powerplay with 7 seconds remaining in the period. Kyle Pereira wired a slap shot through traffic that fooled Glover, tying the game at two-a-piece.

The second frame started with an abundance of chances for both teams, however six minutes into the period, Acadia got caught on a pinch, allowing a Huskie forward to come in one-on-one with an Axemen defenseman. Stephen Johnson, who scored the overtime winner in the last meeting of both teams, scored a beautiful goal by deking out an Acadia defender and out waiting Glover who was sprawled out desperately trying to make the save.

Just over six minutes later the Axemen scored on the powerplay again. After a rare "illegal equipment" call, due to the Saint Mary's player not wearing his helmet properly. Acadia scored on the powerplay for the second time in the game. Rookie forward Remy Giftopolous, snapped a shot that beat Peters' glove hand side through traffic, scoring his sixth goal of the season and first to two goals of the night.

Opening the third period, Bradley Greene found room alone in front of the net in the high slot during four on four action and made no mistake, giving the Huskies their third lead of the game.

With seven minutes remaining in the final period, Giftopolous, with a heads up play, caught Peters on his post and pulled off a wrap-around goal to earn himself his second goal of the night and the game's first star honours with a three points. Giftopolous's goal tied the game at four.

On an innocent looking one timer from just inside the blueline, veteran Chris Owens scored the eventual game winner with 1:03 remaining in the game.

Acadia captain Liam Heelis received the game's third star, with one assist on the night, while Huskie forward Stephen Johnson picked up the games second star of the game.

Brandon Glover played very well making 27 saves, while his counterpart Anthony Peters made 24.

Acadia next home game is scheduled for Friday, January 16 as they take on the struggling St. Thomas Tommies. The Axemen head to Antigonish tomorrow night to take on the StFX X-Men, while the Huskies return home to take on the Dalhousie Tigers who picked up a 3-2 win over StFX this past Friday night.