Axemen defeat Huskies 4-1 in Wolfville

WOLFVILLE, NS - The Acadia Axemen defeated the Saint Mary's Huskies 4-1 in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action Friday at Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville, NS.

Ethan Ernst led the way for Acadia with a power-play goal, which stood as the game-winner. Brady Burns also scored on the man advantage, while Kian Bell and Cole Nagy each added a goal. Cam MacDonald contributed two assists and won 13 faceoffs.

Brady Burns opened the scoring at 16:13 of the first period, converting on a power play with assists from MacDonald and Tyler Deline. Despite multiple penalties, including a 10-minute misconduct to Luke Zazula, Acadia held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.

Ernst doubled the lead early in the second period, striking on the power play at 1:26 with assists from MacDonald and Adam McMaster. Acadia extended its lead to 3-0 with two quick goals—Bell scored shorthanded at 5:13, assisted by Peyton Hoyt, before Nagy found the net at 8:05, also set up by Hoyt. Acadia's Thomas Couture was sharp in goal, stopping multiple Saint Mary's chances.

The Huskies broke through in the third period with a power-play goal from Nathan Dunkley at 12:07, assisted by Derek Gentile and Dennis Busby.

HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��

Nathan Dunkley scores a powerplay goal to cut the Axemen lead to 4-1 in the third period.

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��D. Gentile
��D. Busby pic.twitter.com/vpyHa3pwAv

— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) February 8, 2025

However, Acadia held firm defensively, with Couture making key stops to preserve the lead. The period featured heavy penalties, including another 10-minute misconduct for Zazula and an unsportsmanlike conduct call against Saint Mary's forward Ben Allison.

Dunkley led the Huskies with his lone goal, while Busby added an assist despite a minus-two rating. Ben West made 11 saves on 15 shots for Saint Mary's before being replaced by Justin Sumarah, who stopped all 12 shots he faced.

The Axemen win improved their record to 12-13-1-1 on the season. Acadia will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 8, visiting the UPEI Panthers (9-17-0-1) at 7 p.m. in Charlottetown, PEI.

The Huskies loss drops their record to 15-11-2-0 on the campaign, still third in the conference standings. The Huskies will be back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 12, visiting the Dalhousie Tigers (3-23-1-0) at 7 p.m. at the Halifax Forum, before finishing the regular season on home ice as they host the STFX X-Men (14-11-1-1) on Friday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. at the Dauphinee Centre. GET TICKETS