It wasn't necessarily always pretty, but the Acadia football Axemen have their first victory of 2014.
Trailing Saint Mary's 13-10 after three quarters of their home opener Sept. 13 in Wolfville, Acadia (1-1) secured the win on two Ryan Begin field goals in the final 10 minutes.
Thomas Troop opened the scoring for the Axemen with the lone Acadia touchdown of the afternoon, scoring on a two-yard run that capped an eight-play, 56-yard drive. Begin's convert made it 7-0 Acadia after one quarter.
The Huskies (0-2) got on the board in the second quarter when Acadia conceded a two-point safety.
Begin was good on a 13-yard field goal to increase the Acadia lead to 10-2. Saint Mary's kicker Chase Kodejs added a rouge to make it 10-3 Axemen at halftime.
After the intermission, SMU inched closer on a team rouge, on the opening play of the third quarter, and a team safety that made the score 10-6.
Scott Borden then connected with Mohamed Abdallah on a 14-yard touchdown pass. Kodejs's convert gave the Huskies their first lead, 13-10 after three quarters.
Not to be denied, the Axemen put together a seven-play drive that culminated in a 15-yard Begin field goal that tied the score at 13 with 9:22 left on the clock.
Acadia then followed that up with an eight-play drive, gaining the field position that allowed Begin to kick a 26-yard field goal with 3:06 to play, accounting for the margin of victory.
Player of the game Thomas Troop led the Axemen offensively with 170 net yards on 24 carries, including a 44-yard scamper, and the one touchdown.
Jon Shaw completed 12 of 22 passes for 75 yards, and Brian Jones was the leading Acadia receiver with seven receptions for 60 yards.
Defensively for the Axemen, Martin Pesek had four solo and four assisted tackles and added two quarterback sacks.
Adam Melanson also had a sack, and Jesse St. James and Drew Morris (four solo, three assisted tackles) shared a sack. Harland Hastings had an interception.