U SPORTS No. 6 Axemen hand No. 7 Huskies 6-2 loss

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The U SPORTS No. 6 ranked Acadia Axemen (14-5-2) were on fire downing the visiting No. 7 Saint Mary's Huskies (15-6-1) by a score of 6-2 in front of a near capacity crowd of 2060.

Of the eight goals scored on the night, six came on the power-play, with the Axemen going 5-for-7 on the man-advantage for the night.

The Axemen jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first, despite fairly even play between the two teams for the majority of the period.

Acadia broke the scoreless tie with 6:16 remaining in the first frame, when forward Boston Leier redirected the point shot by Subway First Star of the Game, Matthew Pufahl into the top left corner of the net to make it 1-0.

The Axemen followed the old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", scoring on a nearly identical play, this time forward Sam Fioretti tipped the puck under the legs of the Huskie goaltender Cole Cheveldave to make it 2-0.

Late in the opening period, Huskie forward John Mullally received a game misconduct and gave Acadia a 7-minute power-play because of an illegal hit to the head and the Axemen took advantage of it in the second.

Within the first two minutes of the second period, the Axemen added three power-play goals from third star of the night, Kyle Farrell, as well as Ryan Foss and Sam Fioretti's second of the night.

Farrell scored by waiting out the Saint Mary's goalie and sliding the puck five-hole, while Foss added another one to make it 4-0.

Sam Fioretti's goal was a unique one, as the Cheveldave went behind the net to play the puck, but it bounced off Rodney Southam's stick, which had been slashed out his hands at the beginning of the play, and went out to Fioretti who buried the puck into the empty net.

After falling behind 5-0, the Huskies made a goalie change, pulling starter Cheveldave in favor of Eric Brassard.

The Huskies answered with a power-play goal of their own, from forward and second star of the night Steven Shipley, who scored on a wrist shot in tight of the Axemen net to make it 5-1.

The Axemen and the Huskies each added a goal late in the third, with Kyle Farrell scoring his second of the night on a 2-on-1 break, while Huskies forward Stephen Johnson added one from a rebound that bounced off the Axemen goalie Robert Steeves and into the net.

Steeves turned aside 22 of 24 shots while his Saint Mary's counterpart Cole Cheveldave stopped 14 of 19 before being pulled. The Huskies backup, Eric Brassard stopped 13 of 14 shots.

The Huskies, who sit in third place in the AUS standings, on3 point ahead of the Axemen, have a game-in-hand and have the weekend off.

The Axemen take to the ice again Saturday, Jan. 13 against the Moncton Aigles Bleus to start a five-game road trip before coming back home on Friday, Feb. 2 to take on the UPEI Panthers. Puck drop for all games is 7:00 p.m.

Provided by Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications Office