BY JOHN DECOSTE

Kings County Register

The Acadia hockey Axemen had their work cut out for them last weekend with games against Moncton and UNB - two of the top teams in the country.

When all was said and done, the Axemen - one of the hottest teams in the conference of late; had beaten the Aigles Bleus 4-2 and given top-ranked UNB all it could handle before dropping a 6-5 decision.

February 1 in Moncton, the Axemen, on a five-game winning streak, were definitely the better team playing five-on-five.

While Moncton had its chances on Lanny Ramage, particularly while they had the man advantage, the veteran Acadia netminder proved equal to the task, stopping 31 of 33 shots and holding the explosive Aigles Bleus scoreless on all six power plays.

Ramage was especially stingy in the first period, stopping all 15 shots aimed his way and weathering four Moncton power plays, including two in the first 12 minutes.

Acadia opened the scoring on David Lomas’s first of two goals at 13:58 of the opening period with the Axemen on a five-on-three power play of their own. Brad Horan made it 2-0 just 22 seconds later during the same man advantage.

It stayed 2-0 until Lomas, with his second of the night and seventh goal in his last four games, scored what would be the eventual winner at 3:19 of the second period.

Outstanding goaltending from Ramage and a solid effort by Acadia at both ends of the ice combined to keep Moncton off the scoreboard until Pierre-Andre Bureau broke the shutout at 5:04 of the third period. The Aigles Bleus narrowed the deficit to 3-2 on Pierre Luc Laprise’s goal at 17:21, then pulled their goalie. The strategy backfired, as Paul McFarland set up Tyler Whitehead, who scored into the empty net at 18:58.

Acadia turned in another solid effort February 2 in Fredericton against CIS #1-ranked UNB, coming back from a 6-3 third period deficit only to have their effort fall just short.

The V-Reds jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Rob Pearce (a power play goal at 4:54 of the opening period) and Denny Johnston (an even-strength marker at 6:11).

McFarland got the Axemen on the board with a power play goal at 16:18. Acadia went on the power play again early in the second period, but were victimized by UNB’s Rob Hennigar, the country’s leading scorer, who scored shorthanded at 5:54.

Just 40 seconds later, with the Axemen still on the power play, Philippe Bertrand roofed a quick shot to again cut the deficit to one at 3-2.

This opened the gates for a flurry of scoring – most of which was done by the V-Reds. Pearce scored his second of the game at 7:31, and John Scott Dickson made it 5-2 a little over a minute later, at 8:37.

Zack Firlotte’s power play goal at 10:26 brought Acadia closer, but Kyle Bailey’s goal with just three seconds left in the period all but put the game away.

For the first 15 minutes of the third period, it appeared that would indeed be the case - but the Axemen dug deep. After Whitehead’s goal at 15:41 made it 6-4, the Axemen pulled goalie Mike Chaisson and were rewarded when Blair Jarrett’s goal at 19:28 reduced the UNB lead to one.

Though Acadia had its chances in the final seconds, the Axemen were unable to score the equalizer and saw their six-game win streak broken.

The results left Acadia with a record of 10-12-2 for 22 points, tied for fifth in the AUHC with St. F.X., with four regular season games left to play.

The first two of those games are this weekend in Wolfville, as the Axemen host Moncton Friday and UNB Saturday.