Huskies' early lead holds for 5-3 win over host Axemen

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Despite an attempted comeback by the home team, the Saint Mary's Huskies (3-3-0) defeated the Acadia Axemen (2-4-0) by a score of 5-3 on Friday night. Acadia nearly doubled up the Huskies in shots, but a pair of goals from both Subway First Star of the Night Joel Bishop and Keith Getson was enough to give the Huskies the win.

Saint Mary's jumped out to an early lead and continued to dominate the scoring, putting up three goals in the first period.

Their first goal of the night came 22 seconds into the game on a quick shot close to the net from Joel Bishop.

The Huskies' passing got the Acadia's goalie Logan Flodell moving side-to-side, and Bishop finished on a pass in front to make it 1-0.

Keith Getson added a pair of goals, including a power-play marker at the 4:00 mark in the first to give Saint Mary's a 3-0 lead heading into the second period.

Getson's second goal came out of a nice passing play in the offensive zone that ended with Getson taking a pass from Mitchell Balmas and sliding a shot under the pad of Flodell.

By the end of the opening period, Saint Mary's held a 12-7 shots on goal lead.

While the Huskies added two more goals in the second, Acadia replied with two tallies in the final two minutes of the period.

Mitchell Balmas added to the Huskies' lead in the second with another power-play goal to give Saint Mary's a commanding 4-0 lead.

Dawson Theede faked a shot at the top of the right face-off circle and passed to Balmas in front for an easy tap-in goal.

Adding to their lead a few minutes later, Bishop netted his second of the night. Through the middle of Acadia's zone, Bishop took a pass from Nathan Dunkley, and wired a wrist shot into the top left corner of the net to make it 5-0.

Acadia answered back with under two minutes left in the period when Maurizio Colella ripped a one-timer from the middle of the offensive zone to make it 5-1.

Adam McMaster ended the second on a high note for the Axemen, scoring a powerplay goal with 0.2 seconds remaining in the period.

McMaster's goal came out of a mad scramble in front of the net. He chipped the puck in under the pad of the Huskies' goalie Matt Welsh to close the gap to 5-2 going into the third.

After two periods of play, the shots were 25-16 in Acadia's favour.

The Axemen continued to mount a comeback in the third but ultimately fell short.

The second star of the night, Keegan Stevenson, gave Acadia their second power-play goal of the game with 5:37 left in the third. Stevenson jammed the puck by Welsh in front of the net to narrow the Huskies' lead to 5-3.

Acadia goalie Logan Flodell turned aside 17 of 22 shots on the night, while his Saint Mary's counterpart – and third star of the night – Matt Welsh stopped 41 of the 44 pucks he saw.

The Axemen take to the ice again Saturday, Oct. 23 against the UPEI Panthers before returning home for a rematch with the Huskies Wednesday, Oct. 27. The Axemen's next home game will cap off four games in week schedule. The puck drop for both games is at 7:00 pm.

Provided by Josh Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications