Axemen snap losing streak with a 5-2 win over Dalhousie

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – It was an offensive explosion for the Acadia Axemen (3-4-1) on Friday night, as they snapped their four-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Dalhousie Tigers (1-7-0).

Acadia had a strong offensive night, outshooting the Tigers 43-18 and dominating offensive zone play throughout the game.

Four Axemen players scored their first goal of the season, including rookies Corson Hopwo (Duncan, B.C.) and Brendan Sellan (Hanover, Ont.), who scored two on the night.

The first period saw a pair of Acadia rookies net their first career U SPORTS goal.

Brendan Sellan was the first rookie to score. Sellan redirected a slap pass from Jack Flaman, who fired the puck toward the Tigers' net from inside the blueline, to make it 1-0.

Corson Hopwo added to Acadia's lead, and nabbed his first university career goal, just under two minutes later on a wrist shot that he buried upstairs on the glove side past the Tigers goalie Connor Hicks (Kanata, Ont.).

Subway First Star of the Game, Liam Kidney (Enfield, N.S.) stole the puck off a Tigers player's stick at center ice and brought the puck into the offensive zone before handing it off to Hopwo.

"The guys were talking before the game about coming out hot and playing against this team in our rink and definitely exploiting them with the space on the ice and that showed earlier on in the game," said Kidney after the game.

After taking a timeout early in the period, Dalhousie replied with a power-play marker from Jarrett Baker (Black Rock, N.S.).

Baker fired a quick shot from the slot that beat the Acadia goalie up high to cut the deficit in half for the Tigers.

However, Acadia extended their lead late in the opening period with their first power-play goal in six games from Orlando Mainolfi (Richmond Hill, Ont.).

Acadia held a dominant 14-5 lead in shots by the end of the first.

Keegan Stevenson (Aweres Township, Ont.) added to the lead for the Axemen early in the second. Stevenson took a pass from Cole Nagy (Saskatoon, Sask.) and deked out Hicks before sliding a backhander into the net while falling.

The shots were heavily in Acadia's favour by the end of the second, as the Axemen held a 31-14 lead going into the final frame.

Acadia continued to dominate the play in the third. Riley Webb (Stoney Creek, Ont.) added a fifth goal for Acadia on a weird bounce in the third.

Dalhousie added a power-play marker from Logan Johnston (Fredericton, N.B.) late in the third, but it was too late to make a difference in the outcome of the game. Johnston was named the Second Star of the Game.

Acadia goalie Conor McCollum (Pickering, Ont.) turned aside 16 of the 18 shots he faced on the night, while Hicks stopped 38 of 43 shots.

Acadia has two home games in the four days, as they take on the StFX X-Men on Saturday, Nov. 5, and the UNB Varsity Reds on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm.

Contributed by Joshua Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications