Acadia, the defending champions, won their semifinal series with Saint Mary’s three games to two, and will meet UNB for the conference title, likely starting early next week.
The Varsity Reds defeated St. F.X. in their semifinal, which also went the full five games. Regardless of the outcome of the conference final, both Acadia and UNB are now guaranteed berths in the University Cup.
With the eight-team national tournament being played in Halifax and the AUHC guaranteed three teams in the field (including the X-men as host team), both the Axemen and Huskies had an added incentive to prevail in their semifinal series.
And what a series it was, with all but one of the five games decided by one goal.
In game five, the Huskies struck first, taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission on Gerrad Grant’s power play goal at 5:41 of the opening period.
It stayed 1-0 until Axemen captain Liam Heelis tied the score at 12:14 of the second period, also on the power play, assisted by Mike Cazzola. Almost exactly four minutes later, at 16:17, Remi Giftopoulos gave Acadia its first lead, scoring on the power play assisted by defensemen Matt Pufahl and Travis Gibbons.
The Axemen, who looked tentative at times in the first period, turned things around in the second, outshooting the Huskies 16-10 and being rewarded for a solid team effort with a pair of goals.
Saint Mary’s had a five-on-three power play early in the third period, but failed to score. Instead, it was Acadia that struck, Boston Leier burying the rebound of a Taylor Makin shot past Huskies’ goalie Anthony Peters on a bang-bang play at 8:29 to give the Axemen a two-goal lead.
With Peters on the bench for an extra skater, Stephen MacAulay scored at 19:29 to make the final minute a little more interesting, but Acadia successfully played out the clock, and the game – and the series - was theirs.
Shots on goal in the third period were 15-9 in favour of Saint Mary’s, and the Huskies held a 35-34 advantage for the game.
The three stars were Axemen goalie Brandon Glover, who turned aside 33 of the 35 shots he faced; Leier, who played a strong two-way game and ended up with the game-winning goal; and Giftopoulos, whose second-period goal gave Acadia the lead for good.
Asked afterward the key to the victory, Acadia captain Liam Heelis said, “persistence and a strong work ethic. Every single individual on our team came together and brought their best effort tonight.”
Heelis termed it “a tough series. My hat’s off to Saint Mary’s. They’re a good team. They fought tooth and nail. It was a tremendous series to be part of.”
While Heelis acknowledged the Axemen had something to celebrate in qualifying for nationals - “it’s a tremendous feeling,” he said - he stressed, “our next focus has to be winning another AUS championship.
"We’ll take time to enjoy the moment here, then get on with the job of winning the AUS. Then we can focus on nationals. We’ll take things one game at a time, and one step at a time.”
“We knew in September there were likely going to be four teams (Acadia, Saint Mary’s, UNB and St. F.X.) battling it out for the championship,” said Axemen assistant coach Mark Richards. “There were two game fives played tonight, and those four teams were all in there battling.”
Acadia and Saint Mary’s, he said, “was a hell of a series. It was great to see the rink so full and so alive. There were people who were here 20 years ago, and five and six-year-old kids.”
Axemen head coach Darren Burns termed it “a tough series between two great teams. "We’ll need to focus on preparing for the next round,” he said, “but it’s nice for our school and for our supporters that we’ll get to play at nationals again.”
Acadia, he said, “deserves this.”
Burns said “great leadership and composure, from everybody in the room,” was the key to victory. “These guys have really come together, and have gotten better and better. "We want to get ready for the next series,” he said, “but there’s definitely something to celebrate here tonight.”
Acadia, the defending champions, won their semifinal series with Saint Mary’s three games to two, and will meet UNB for the conference title, likely starting early next week.
The Varsity Reds defeated St. F.X. in their semifinal, which also went the full five games. Regardless of the outcome of the conference final, both Acadia and UNB are now guaranteed berths in the University Cup.
With the eight-team national tournament being played in Halifax and the AUHC guaranteed three teams in the field (including the X-men as host team), both the Axemen and Huskies had an added incentive to prevail in their semifinal series.
And what a series it was, with all but one of the five games decided by one goal.
In game five, the Huskies struck first, taking a 1-0 lead into the first intermission on Gerrad Grant’s power play goal at 5:41 of the opening period.
It stayed 1-0 until Axemen captain Liam Heelis tied the score at 12:14 of the second period, also on the power play, assisted by Mike Cazzola. Almost exactly four minutes later, at 16:17, Remi Giftopoulos gave Acadia its first lead, scoring on the power play assisted by defensemen Matt Pufahl and Travis Gibbons.
The Axemen, who looked tentative at times in the first period, turned things around in the second, outshooting the Huskies 16-10 and being rewarded for a solid team effort with a pair of goals.
Saint Mary’s had a five-on-three power play early in the third period, but failed to score. Instead, it was Acadia that struck, Boston Leier burying the rebound of a Taylor Makin shot past Huskies’ goalie Anthony Peters on a bang-bang play at 8:29 to give the Axemen a two-goal lead.
With Peters on the bench for an extra skater, Stephen MacAulay scored at 19:29 to make the final minute a little more interesting, but Acadia successfully played out the clock, and the game – and the series - was theirs.
Shots on goal in the third period were 15-9 in favour of Saint Mary’s, and the Huskies held a 35-34 advantage for the game.
The three stars were Axemen goalie Brandon Glover, who turned aside 33 of the 35 shots he faced; Leier, who played a strong two-way game and ended up with the game-winning goal; and Giftopoulos, whose second-period goal gave Acadia the lead for good.
Asked afterward the key to the victory, Acadia captain Liam Heelis said, “persistence and a strong work ethic. Every single individual on our team came together and brought their best effort tonight.”
Heelis termed it “a tough series. My hat’s off to Saint Mary’s. They’re a good team. They fought tooth and nail. It was a tremendous series to be part of.”
While Heelis acknowledged the Axemen had something to celebrate in qualifying for nationals - “it’s a tremendous feeling,” he said - he stressed, “our next focus has to be winning another AUS championship.
"We’ll take time to enjoy the moment here, then get on with the job of winning the AUS. Then we can focus on nationals. We’ll take things one game at a time, and one step at a time.”
“We knew in September there were likely going to be four teams (Acadia, Saint Mary’s, UNB and St. F.X.) battling it out for the championship,” said Axemen assistant coach Mark Richards. “There were two game fives played tonight, and those four teams were all in there battling.”
Acadia and Saint Mary’s, he said, “was a hell of a series. It was great to see the rink so full and so alive. There were people who were here 20 years ago, and five and six-year-old kids.”
Axemen head coach Darren Burns termed it “a tough series between two great teams. "We’ll need to focus on preparing for the next round,” he said, “but it’s nice for our school and for our supporters that we’ll get to play at nationals again.”
Acadia, he said, “deserves this.”
Burns said “great leadership and composure, from everybody in the room,” was the key to victory. “These guys have really come together, and have gotten better and better. "We want to get ready for the next series,” he said, “but there’s definitely something to celebrate here tonight.”
