Last minute heroics give Axemen win over StFX

WOLFVILLE, N.S. - With a crowd of 2000 on hand for the official opening of Andrew H. McCain Arena and a quarterfinal playoff bye on the line, the CIS No. 3 ranked Axemen scored two goals in the final two minutes of play to defeat the X-Men 5-4, securing second place in the AUS standings.

It was a timely effort by the Axemen who had yet to beat StFX in three regular season match ups. With the victory and second place finish, Acadia secures a first round bye in the upcoming AUS playoffs. The X-Men finish is fourth place and will meet the fifth place UPEI Panthers for a best 2-of-3 quarter-final series.

On a rare 2-on-0 break at the eight minute mark of the opening period, rookie Boston Leier (Saskatoon, SK), decided to shoot the puck rather than pass it, sniping a shot off the cross bar to give Acadia a 1-0 lead. Tyler Ferry (Richmond Hill, ON) and Taylor Makin (Lethbridge, AB) received assists on the play.

Under a minute later, X-Men forward Trey Lewis (Aldouane, NB) scored his second goal of the season on a 2-on-1 break that tied the game at one. Michael Kirkpatrick (North Sydney, NS) and Jarrad Struthers  (Glace Bay, NS) assisted on the play.

The X-Men took the first of three leads in the game when Kirkpatrick scored on the powerplay at 13:30 of the first period from Blake Gal (Lethbridge, AB) and Nathan Chiarlitti (Maple, ON).

Veteran blueliner Travis Gibbons (London, ON) tied the game at two by rifling a slap shot between the legs of StFX netminder Drew Owsley (Lethbridge, AB) less than a minute later, ending the first period at a 2-2 deadlock. Brett Thompson (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) and Sam Fioretti (Calgary, AB) had the helpers.

After killing off a long 5-on-3 penalty, X-Men forward Blake Gal scored his first of two goals at the halfway point of the second period, the only goal of the middle frame, to give StFX a 3-2 lead after 40 minutes. Chiarlitti and Kirkpatrick earned assists on the tally.

After a flurry of chances that opened the third period, Dylan Anderson (Ottawa, ON) tipped a Chris Owens (St. John's, NF) slap shot from the point past a screened Owsley to tie the game for a third time. Makin also assisted on the goal that came 2:09 into the third.

Gal scored his second goal on the man-advantage at 11:40 to give the X-Men the lead again. Kirkpatrick picked up his third assist of the night as he was in on all four X goals. Struthers also assisted.

With the clock winding down, the Axemen pulled goalie Brandon Glover (Victoria, BC) for the extra attacker and just seconds after doing so, Thompson deposited a nice pass off the stick captain Liam Heelis (Georgetown, ON) to tie the game, scoring his league leading 19th goal. The marker at 18:36 was also assisted by Matthew Pufahl (Saskatoon, SK).

It wasn't over yet as Heelis scored his 51st career and game winning goal with nine seconds remaining in regulation time, from Travis Gibbons (London, ON) and Alex Beaton (Lower Sackville, NS). Heelis ended his goal scoring drought that began on November 22nd after scoring his 50th goal. The captain was named the Subway First Star of the Game. Axemen teammate Remy Giftopolous (Ancaster, ON) was named the third star.

Glover stopped 16 of 20 shots for the win, while Owsley received the Subway second star of the game after stopping 44 shots in the losing effort for the X-Men.

Acadia complete the AUS regular season with a 20-5-3 record, finishing second in the standings, three points back of first place UNB (22-4-2). The Varsity Reds and Axemen will await the winners of the quarter-final series matchups that include No. 6 Moncton (11-14-3) versus No. 3 Saint Mary's (20-7-1) and No. 5 UPEI (13-13-2) versus No. 3 StFX (17-9-2).

With contribution from Acadia Communications