By John DeCoste
The logjam continued atop the conference standings following another interesting weekend of university men’s hockey.
First-place UNB came back to the pack a bit with a pair of weekend losses, 2-1 to Saint Mary’s and 5-4 to St. F.X. in a shootout.
Saint Mary’s scored a pair of wins, topping UPEI 5-3 after edging UNB, while both Acadia and Moncton split their weekend games.
The Axemen lost 6-3 Friday in Moncton, then defeated St. Thomas 3-1 Saturday in Fredericton while the Blue Eagles were losing 5-1 at home to Dalhousie.
The Axemen trailed 2-1 after one period Friday in Moncton. Christian Gaudet and Kevin Charland scored for the home squad, while Liam Heelis replied for Acadia on the power play.
Wolfville native K.C. Brown’s first Axemen goal at 18:22 of the second period, tied the score 2-2 after 40 minutes.
Moncton then tallied four of five third-period goals to earn the win. Eric Faille had a pair of goals, including an empty-netter, while Francois Rochon and Alex Quesnel also found the net behind Evan Mosher.
Jonathan Laberge, with his fourth goal and sixth point since Christmas, had the lone third-period marker for Acadia. Moncton had a 37-29 edge in shots.
On Saturday, the line of Laberge, Spencer Jezegou and newcomer Chris Moulson continued its solid play in a 3-1 Axemen win.
Jezegou had a pair of goals, Moulson a goal and an assist and Laberge two assists for the Axemen, who led 2-0 after one period and 3-1 after two.
Acadia outshot STU 37-23, including an 18-2 advantage in the second period during which the Axemen enjoyed eight power-play opportunities and scored one power-play goal (Jezegou’s second).
Injuries continue to be a problem for Acadia, which dressed just 16 players Friday and 15 Saturday with Alex Beaton joining those sitting out.
Just eight players – Michael Ward, Jezegou, Chris Owens, Adam McIllwraith, Joe Gaynor, Andrew Clark, Travis Gibbons and Laberge – have played in all 19 of Acadia’s regular season games.
The Axemen travelled to Halifax Wednesday for a midweek meeting with the Dalhousie Tigers. This weekend, Acadia hosts St. F.X. Friday evening, and the same two teams play again Sunday afternoon in Antigonish.
