WOLFVILLE, N.S. - With a much closer game than last night's 6-3 Acadia win, the CIS No. 2 ranked Axemen handed the visiting Saint Mary's Huskies a 3-0 loss that was decided in the closing minutes of the game.
A game filled with speed and battles along the wall in front of a capacity crowd at the Acadia Arena, both teams triedto force each other to the outside.
A tight scoreless first period saw the Axemen retain a 6-4 shots on goal advantage but both teams had several opportunities to take a first period lead.
At 6:37 of the second period, second year forward Travis Randell broke the scoreless deadlock with a close one timer to give the Axemen a 1-0 lead that would hold late into the final frame. On a costly turnover by a Huskie defenseman, Alex Beaton capitalized by maintaining \ pressure and stealing the puck to slide it across to teammate Travis Randell who tapped in his second of the playoffs.
Late in the second period Ryan Hillier took down Acadia's Chris Owens along the boards on a race for the puck. Owens left to the dressing room and didn't return.
At the midpoint of the second period, AUS All-Star defenseman Chris Owen was brought down by Ryan Hillier on a boarding penalty while racing for the puck in Acadia's end. Owens hit the boards hard, leaving for the remainder of the game.
The third period started with several chances on both ends of the ice. The Axemen were unable to take advantage of two powerplay opportunities midway through the final frame.
It wasn't until Huskies pulled their goalie, that Acadia was able to add two empty netters in the last minute and a half of the game. The Axemen solidified the win late in the third period with an empty net goal at 18:39 by Travis Gibbons. Dustin Ekelman added the assurance goal on an empty net with 25 seconds on the clock.
Evan Mosher was named the Subway First Star of the Game, stopping all 19 shots and recording the shutout. Huskie Anthony Peters repelled 20 shots and received the second Star of the Game award.
Fourth year defenseman Cullen Morin added a strong performance, recording two shots; a +2 rating and third Star of the Game honours.
The Axemen take a 2-0 best of 5 series lead on the Saint Mary's. Games three and four are scheduled for the Halifax Forum on Sunday and Monday and if a game five is required, Acadia will return home for the last game, if required, on Wednesday. Saint Mary's will hope to take advantage of the smaller ice surface of the Forum and work their way back into this series. While Acadia looks to win one of the next three games in order to take down last year's AUS Champions.