Huskies take 3-2 OT win over Axemen

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Make it three straight losses for the Acadia Axemen (2-3-1), as the USPORTS No. 6 ranked Saint Mary's Huskies pulled off a 3-2 OT win on Wednesday night.

Acadia held a lead late in the third, but Saint Mary's tied the game on a late power-play goal and then won it in OT on a goal from Subway First Star of the Night Bradey Johnson (Lindsay, Ont.).

Johnson came in on an odd-man rush and slipped a wrist shot past Acadia's goalie Zachary Paputsakis (Rockland, Ont.) to send the Acadia crowd home in disappointment.

There was a kerfuffle in front of the Saint Mary's net near the beginning of the period that set the tone for a rough first period.

Neither team was able to open the scoring in the first period.

Saint Mary's had the best chance of the period when Jake Durham (Port Perry, Ont.) missed a wide-open net on a cross-crease pass in the final minutes of the first.

Acadia came close to putting one on the board in the final minute of the first when Keegan Stevenson (Aweres Township, Ont.) got a partial break and lifted a backhand shot at the net.

At the end of the first period, Saint Mary's held a 12-7 lead in shots.

Saint Mary's put one past Paputsakis with 4:44 left in the frame on a point shot from Jaxon Bellamy (Hampton, N.B).

Adam McMaster (Beamsville, N.S.) wired a shot on a pass from Nick Deakin-Poot (Georgetown, Ont.) to tie the game, which is where the score stood heading into the final frame.

At the end of the second, the shots were 21-18 for Acadia.

Acadia took their first lead of the game in the final period on a goal from the team's leading scorer, Liam Kidney (Enfield, N.S.).

Kidney picked up a rebound in front of the net and slid it past the goalie to make it 2-1.

A late penalty in the final minutes of the third by Acadia gave Andrew Coxhead (Bedford, N.S.) the opportunity to wire a top-shelf wrist shot into the top right corner to tie the game.

Acadia goalie and second star of the night Zachary Paputsakis turned aside 28 of 31 shots on the night in a stellar performance. Saint Mary's goalie and third star of the night Matt Welsh (Halifax, N.S.) stopped 28 of 30 shots.

The Acadia Axemen return to the ice on Saturday, Oct. 29 against the UPEI Panthers before returning for a home game on Friday, Nov. 4 against the Dalhousie Tigers.  The Huskies host the UPEI Panthers on this Friday night. The puck drops at 7:00 pm on both nights.