Axemen sweep opening week of new year

WOLFVILLE — The Acadia Axemen defeated the St. Francis Xavier X-Men 4-2 on Friday in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action at Acadia University.

Peyton Hoyt opened the scoring at 11:54 of the first period, assisted by Brady Burns and Conor Shortall. Acadia extended the lead to 2-0 at 17:00 when Ethan Ernst scored on the power play, with Burns and Tyler Deline drawing assists. StFX had a two-man advantage earlier in the period after penalties to Marc Boudreau and Corson Hopwo but failed to capitalize.

Adam McMaster put the Axemen up 3-0 early in the second period, scoring on the power play at 4:06 off passes from Liam Kidney and Brendan Sellan. StFX pushed back, with Logan Chisholm cutting the deficit to 3-1 at 10:46. Chisholm was set up by Simon Motew and Cole Stewart. The X-Men pulled within one at 17:51 when Raegan Wiles found the back of the net, assisted by Chisholm.

The teams battled in a scoreless third period until Brendan Tomilson secured the victory for Acadia with an empty-net goal at 19:34. StFX's Ben Mercer was called for high-sticking at 5:18, giving Acadia a power-play opportunity, but the Axemen couldn't add to their lead.

McMaster finished with the game-winning goal and a power-play marker for Acadia. Burns recorded two assists, while Ernst also scored on the power play. For StFX, Chisholm had a goal, 12 faceoff wins, and an assist on Wiles' goal.

In net, Acadia's Thomas Couture made 30 saves in the win, while Lucas Pfeil stopped 29 shots for StFX.

Next weekend the Axemen host UNB and Moncton on Friday and Saturday nights at Andrew H McCain Arena.