By John DeCoste
The Acadia hockey Axemen face elimination in game two of best-of-three quarter-final series Friday night in Moncton after a 7-5 loss to the Aigles Bleus Feb. 13 on home ice.
Despite outshooting Moncton 60-24, Acadia lost. Axemen goalie Peter DiSalvo surrendered seven goals on the 24 shots he faced.
In a wild game, the lead changed hands several times before the Aigles Bleus put the game away in the third period.
Brett Thompson opened the scoring with a power play goal for the Axemen after just 47 seconds of the first period. Christian Gaudet replied for Moncton at 8:28.
Mike Cazzola gave Acadia a 2-1 lead with an even-strength goal at 19:01 for a 2-1 Axemen lead at the end of 20 minutes.
In the second period, Guillaume Parenteau tied the score for a second time with a power play goal at 1:58 when two Acadia players were in the penalty box.
The Aigles Bleus then took a 3-2 lead less than two minutes later as Francis Rochon scored his first of three goals on the night - an even-strength marker at 3:32. Six minutes later, Rochon struck again.
Moncton’s two-goal lead didn’t last long. Thompson scored his second of the game, a power play goal at 13:19, and Cazzola netted his second at 14:33 to tie up the score at 4-4.
The third period was almost all Moncton, with the Aigles Bleus netting three goals to Acadia’s one. Jean-Marc Leger scored at 7:53 to give Moncton a 5-4 lead. Rochon completed his hat trick at 11:38 to restore the two-goal lead.
Alex Beaton got one goal back with an unassisted effort at 11:57, but Pierre-Antoine Dion rounded out the scoring with an even-strength goal at 16:01.
Acadia pulled its goalie with 1:57 left, but was unable to score.
Andre-Michel Guay was solid in the Moncton goal, stopping 55 of 60 shots.
The Axemen travel to Moncton Feb. 15 for the second game in the series. If they win, the teams will meet again in Wolfville Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
