Panthers drop shootout to Axemen 3-2, end season series winless

By Reegan MacAulay

This season, it wasn't meant to be for the UPEI Panthers (7-14-0-2) against the Acadia University Axemen (13-13-1-1), who entered Saturday's Alumni Night game at the MacLauchlan Arena looking to finally triumph against Acadia after losing the last four attempts.

In the final game of the two team's five-game regular season series, the Panthers gave the Axemen a solid fight in front of an energetic crowd. They showed resilience in the third period with a late-tying goal after their 1-0 lead across two periods turned into a 2-1 deficit within seven minutes. Unfortunately, they couldn't capitalize in extra time, ultimately coming up short in a shootout 3-2.

Fans were entertained by a match that, despite its consistent intensity and numerous close calls and hard hits, was surprisingly disciplined. Each team swapped chances back and forth until 7:03 in the first period. Second-year forward Elias Cohen forced a turnover at the blue line of the Axemen zone and fed the puck to fellow sophomore Ben McFarlane in the left-wing faceoff circle, who one-timed a shot past Axemen goaltender Thomas Couture to give UPEI a 1-0 lead; it was his 15th goal of the season.

While the Panthers didn't find the back of the net anymore before the second-period buzzer, they still showed an excellent display of offensive control and physicality. Sophomore goaltender Jakob Robillard denied all 16 Axemen shots and was poised to record a potential third win within four starts. Tragically, at 5:35 in the third period, a shutout scenario was dashed after Adam McMaster intercepted a no-look backhand feed by veteran forward Kaleb Pearson at the Panthers' blue line, danced his way past three Panthers and backhanded a shot over Robillard's glove, tying the game 1-1.

About seven minutes later, at 12:33, Acadia's lead was extended to two goals when Charlie Desroches centred the puck in front of the Panthers' net, where it bounced off Peyton Hoyt's stick and beyond Robillard's blocker. UPEI players and fans prayed for a miracle as the minutes wound down and the action ramped up, and it came with one minute and five seconds remaining. With the net pulled, captain Kurtis Henry gained puck possession at the Axemen's blue line and fired a shot which flew through traffic and tipped off McFarlane's stick into the net, tying the game 2-2. McFarlane's 16th goal of the season made him the team's new leading goal-scorer.

In overtime, there were just four shots in total and few good chances, forcing a shootout, which Acadia capitalized on with goals by McMaster and Ethan Ernst compared to UPEI's one successful attempt by Henry.

The final shots were 28-26 in favour of UPEI. McFarlane was named the Panthers Player of the Game with two goals while Hoyt earned Axemen Player of the Game honours with one goal. Robillard denied 24 of 26 shots in his 15th start this season and his record dropped to 6-7-0-1. Couture stopped 26 of 28 shots in his 24th start and improved his record to 12-12-0-0. UPEI went 0-for-0 on the power play while Acadia went 0-for-2.

The Panthers dropped to 9-17-0-2 while the Axemen improved to 13-13-1-1 and jumped two points ahead of UPEI in the standings. The win was important for Acadia as they're now within a four-point bubble for third place between them, StFX, and Saint Mary's; all three teams have two games remaining in their regular season campaigns, and all those results will determine who UPEI's quarterfinal opponent will be.

As for the Panthers, they are guaranteed to finish sixth in the standings and, while awaiting the battle ahead of them, will look to end the regular season strong and enter double digits in victories. They will end their campaign with two games across three days next week.

The stretch begins with a return to Fredericton, N.B. on Wednesday, Feb. 12 to challenge the league-leading UNB Reds (26-1-1-0, 14 consecutive wins). Then, on Friday, Feb. 14, it's a battle at the Mac against the second-place Moncton Aigles Bleus (18-8-2-0, on a seven-game winning streak). Both UNB and Moncton are undefeated against UPEI this season thus far.

Photo Credit: Janessa Vanden Broek