Axemen pick up a 3-2 OT win, McCarty scores two

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The Acadia Axemen (3-5-0) snapped a three-game losing streak on Wednesday night, securing a 3-2 OT win over the Saint Mary's Huskies (3-3-1). Forwards Adam McMaster and Subway First Star of the Game Mason McCarty scored all three of Acadia's goals, with McCarty scoring the first and last goals of the game.

Despite taking an early lead, the Axemen fell behind in a 2-1 deficit to Saint Mary's after the first period.

Acadia got themselves on the board early in the game, notching a goal in the opening two minutes of the game.

Mason McCarty finished a pass from Adam McMaster in front of the net, lifting the puck over the right pad of the Huskies goalie to make it 1-0.

However, the Acadia lead was short-lived, as Jacob Durham finished a cross-zone pass from Mitchell Balmas, beating the Logan Flodell high glove to tie the game at 1-1.

With 9 seconds left in the period, Joel Bishop gave Saint Mary's their first lead of the game. Bishop scooped up a pass in front of the net and tucked it five-hole to end the period 2-1.

At the end of the opening period, Saint Mary's held a 10-8 shot lead.

Adding to his assist in the first, Adam McMaster put up the lone goal of the second period, tying the game at 2-2 heading into the third.

McMaster snuck in behind the Saint Mary's defenders in the offensive zone and got a lucky bounce after the puck hit a Huskies leg and rolled out to McMaster.

To tie the game, McMaster cut in tight on the Huskies goalie and squeaked the puck under the goalie's blocker.

"Obviously it's huge. The last three games were pretty tough. We haven't come out of the gate very well and that's what we were preaching today. Even though we are short-bodied, we really battled today," McMaster noted when asked how important the win was tonight.

"Same as we do every day. A little bit more video this week and worked on things we needed to touch up, especially things from last week we got back to doing earlier in the preseason and the first part of the regular season," said McMaster when asked what the team did differently this week in practice.

Saint Mary's continued to hold a lead in shots going into the third, up 28-20 in that department.

While there were chances on both sides in the final frame, neither team was able to crack the tie, leading to a 3-on-3 OT to decide the winner.  

With 1:23 left to play in OT, McCarty notched a power-play marker from inside the blue-line. McCarty took a pass at the point and ripped a shot into the top left corner of the net to seal the victory for the Axemen.

Logan Flodell had a busy night in the net, turning aside 48 of 50 shots for the third star of the night honours. His Huskies counterpart Matt Welsh stopped 30 of 33 shots on the night.

Saint Mary's forward Sam King was named the second star.

The Axemen take to the ice again on Saturday, Oct. 30 at home against the UPEI Panthers, while Saint Mary's next faces off against UPEI on Friday, Oct. 29. The puck drop for both games is 7:00 p.m.