Axemen split opening weekend with loss to Huskies

HALIFAX, NS – The Acadia Axemen opened the scoring but ultimately fell 5-2 to the Saint Mary's Huskies on Saturday night at the Dauphinee Centre in Halifax, in front of 388 fans.

Acadia forward Brady Burns (Port Williams, NS) put the Axemen on the board first with a powerplay goal 10:01 into the first period, giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.

However, the Huskies responded late in the period when a pass from Charlie Da Fonseca (Thornhill, ON) found Ben Allison (Halifax, NS), who capitalized on a fortunate bounce to tie the game at 1-1 just before the first intermission. The Axemen outshot Saint Mary's 12-11 in the opening 20 minutes, with goaltender Thomas Couture (Levis, QC) stopping 11 shots to keep it close.

Early in the second period, the Huskies took the lead just 40 seconds in with a goal from Reid Valade (Caledon, ON). They added to their advantage at the 6:22 mark when Allison notched his second goal of the night off a give-and-go with Derek Gentile (Sydney, NS), making it 3-1.

Acadia pushed back midway through the second frame when first-year defenseman Keagan Slaney (Airdrie, AB) scored his first career AUS goal, blasting a shot past a screened Huskies netminder, Justin Sumarah (Halifax, NS), to cut the lead to 3-2.

Despite outshooting the Axemen 11-10 in the second period, Saint Mary's was held to a one-goal advantage heading into the third.

The Huskies extended their lead in the third period when Dennis Busby scored a powerplay goal, with Allison adding an assist. In the dying seconds of regulation, Jaxon Bellamy (Hampton, NB) sealed the game with an empty-netter, finalizing the 5-2 scoreline.

Couture made 27 saves for the Axemen in the loss, while Sumarah stopped 26 shots for Saint Mary's.

The Axemen, now 1-1-0, will look to bounce back on Friday, Oct. 11, when they travel to Antigonish to face the STFX X-Men at 7 p.m.