Panthers fall below .500 with loss to Acadia

Wolfville, NS—Make it two straight wins for the Acadia Axemen (4-5-0), who snagged a 5-2 win over the UPEI Panthers (3-4-1) on Saturday night. The Axemen never trailed in the game thanks to solid offensive performance and a strong performance from Logan Flodell in the net. 

It only took 19 seconds for Acadia to get on the board, thanks to a goal from Subway First Star of the Night Cole Rafuse. 

Rafuse broke in on a 2-on-1 with Nick Deakin-Poot and redirected a pass in front of the net past the left pad of the UPEI goalie, allowing Acadia to jump out to a quick 1-0 lead. 

Much like the first goal, the Axemen doubled their lead on a redirected pass in front of the Panthers net. 

TJ Fergus cut in behind a UPEI defender in front of the net and tipped a pass from a streaking Mason McCarty into the bottom left corner of the net to make it 2-0. 

At the end of the first period, Acadia held a 10-9 lead in shots. 

UPEI answered back in the second with two goals but came out of the period down 3-2. 

Both Panthers' goals mirrored the Axemen goals from the first frame. 

TJ Shea notched a goal 4:48 into the period and less than five minutes later, the Panthers tied the game on a marker from the second star of the night Kyle Makismovich. 

Both goals came on cross-crease passes that got the Axemen goalie moving from one side of his net to the other. 

A four-minute kneeing penalty was the difference-maker in the period, as Acadia reclaimed their lead in the final minute of the second on a power-play goal from the third star of the night, Luke Zazula. 

Zazula carried the puck from the Axemen zone, stepped over the UPEI blueline – in the middle of four Panthers defenders – and rifled a hard snapshot into the top left corner of the net for the tiebreaker. 

Despite trailing in scoring, UPEI held a 19-17 shot lead going into the final frame. 

It was a tight final frame with chances from both sides, but Acadia doubled up the Panthers with five minutes left in the game on a goal from Mason McCarty. 

McCarty sped into the Panthers zone on a partial break, took a pass off the boards from Adam McMaster, and lifted the puck into the top right corner for the 4-2 lead. 

The game was stopped for some roughhousing late in the third, as the teams combined for 10 minutes in individual roughing penalties. 

Acadia sealed the victory with a last-minute empty-net goal from Peyton Hoyt. 

Logan Flodell stopped 32 of 34 shots for the Axemen, while his UPEI counterpart Lucas Fitzpatrick turned aside 21 of 25 shots on the night. 

Acadia returns to play on Wednesday, Nov. 3 against the Dalhousie Tigers, while the Panthers go up against the Moncton Aigles Bleus on Wednesday as well. The puck drop for both games is 7:00 pm. 

Recap: Josh Foote, Acadia Athletics Communications

Photos:Acadia Athletics Communications