Axemen fail comeback vs CIS No. 1 ranked X-Men
Wolfville, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen were unable to pull off the comeback, as the Axemen (2-2) dropped their final game of the two game Homecoming weekend, 5-3 to the StFX X-Men (3-1).
Wolfville, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen were unable to pull off the comeback, as the Axemen (2-2) dropped their final game of the two game Homecoming weekend, 5-3 to the StFX X-Men (3-1).
The X-Men were quick to get on the board, with third year forward and Subway First Star of the Night, Kristoff Kontos (Penetanguishene, Ont.), scoring on the team's first shot of the night.
Kontos took a cross ice pass from second year forward, Holden Cook (Oshawa, Ont.), to slide the puck under the right pad of Axemen goaltender, Devon Williams (Detroit, Michigan).
The X-Men bookended the period with only 6.4 seconds left to play. Rookie forward Bryson Cianfrone, (Stoney Creek, Ont.) curled in front of the net and waited out a sprawling Williams, before sliding it under Williams' glove at the side of the net to give StFX a 2-0 advantage.
Despite leading in shots 15-6, the Axemen were unable to find the back of the net in the first frame.
Once again the X-Men opened the scoring in the second period, with second year forward Mark Tremaine (Dartmouth, N.S.) scooping the puck up in an offensive zone faceoff and firing it low blocker side past Williams, to put the X-Men up 3-0.
Acadia finally responded with a hard wrist shot at the top of the left faceoff dot from second year defenseman Liam Maaskant (Clinton, Ont.), to cut the X-Men lead to 3-1. Just like the period before, the X-Men scored within the last minute of the second, when a wide open Holden Cook (Oshawa, Ont.) fired a wrist shot in tight, beating Williams low glove side.
Acadia refused to give up with third year forward and Subway Second Star of the Night, Remy Giftopoulos (Ancaster, Ont.), scoring two in the third period, including a power play marker at 11:45 and a blistering wrist shot that went high glove on X-Men goaltender Chase Marchand (Halifax, N.S.) with 2:27 left to play.
The X-Men put the game away when third year forward Adam Stevens (Bedford, N.S.) buried an empty net goal, solidifying a 5-3 win for the X-Men.
Fourth year Axemen forward, Taylor Makin (Lethbridge, Alta.), had a goal called back because of a high stick, late in the third, shortly after Giftopoulos's first of the night.
Second year X-Men defenseman, Aaron Hoyles (Gander, Nfld.), was given a 10-minute misconduct and 2-minute for minor for a hit from behind in the second period on Acadia rookie defenseman, Nick Betz (Detroit, Michigan). Betz did not miss a shift.
Devon Williams stopped 16 of 20 shots, while his X-Men counterpart Chase Marchand set aside 41 of the 43 Axemen shots. Marchand was named Subway Third Star of the Night for his efforts.
Acadia struggled on the power play, going 1-for-12 on the night. Axemen coach, Darren Burns (Brockville, Ont.) called a time out in the second period to try and regroup the team for a two-man advantage, but they were unable to do anything with it. The X-Men also struggled, going 0-for-5 on the night.
The Axemen travel to Halifax to take on the Saint Mary's Huskies this coming Wednesday October 19th at 7:00 p.m. and will return home October 22nd, against Moncton. The X-Men will take the ice again on October 21st at home against the UPEI Panthers at 7:00 p.m.
Submitted by Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications Office