The Acadia hockey Axemen would likely be comfortably in first place in the AUHC if they could figure out a way to beat the St. F.X. X-men.
The Axemen had to settle for a weekend split Jan. 9-10, edging Saint Mary’s 5-4 Jan. 9 in Wolfville before dropping a 4-2 decision to the X-men Jan. 10 in Antigonish – their third loss in as many meetings with the X-men so far this season.
The results dropped Acadia (14-4-1) into second place with 29 points, one behind the V-Reds and two ahead of the third-place Huskies.
In the Jan. 9 meeting of CIS top-five ranked teams, veteran defenceman Chris Owens’ goal with 1:03 remaining in the third period was the game-winner as the #3 Axemen came from behind three times to defeat the #4 Huskies for the first time in three tries.
Remi Giftopolous had two goals for the Axemen, with Michael Clarke, Brett Thompson and Owens scoring the others. Final shots on goal were 33-31 in favour of Acadia.
On Jan. 10, Geoff Schemitsch opened the scoring for the Axemen with a power play goal at 10:26 of the first period, the only goal of the opening 20 minutes. Dylan Anderson’s even-strength goal at 7:39 of the second period made it 2-0.
The X-men, though, erupted for four even-strength goals in a little over five minutes in the third period. The X-men outshot Acadia 10-5 in the third period and 31-20 in the game.
Acadia basketball teams split with St. F.X.
It was good news for the basketball Axemen and more bad news for the Axewomen against St. F.X. Jan. 10. The Axemen scored a 77-67 win over the X-men, while the Axewomen ended up on the short end of a similar 78-68 score.
In the women’s game, Acadia ended up out-rebounded 35-27 and committed 19 turnovers.
Sparked by Anderson and Smith, the Axewomen won the third quarter 20-13 and trailed by a single point, 52-51 after three quarters. After a slow start, Acadia got back to within three in the final quarter, which St. F.X. won 26-17 to account for their 10-point margin of victory.
Chanel Smith led the Axewomen with 17 points, a total that included three threes. Newcomer Paloma Anderson added 16 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Katie Ross contributed 12 points and Lauren Jodrey 10, with both players chipping in a pair of three-pointers.
In the men’s game, Acadia shot 42.4 per cent from the floor (to 36.2 per cent for X), and made 10 three-pointers to just four for the X-men. The Axemen narrowly won the rebounding battle, 41-39 overall and 12-11 at the offensive end.
Kyle Arseneault led Acadia with 23 points. Rhys Larry finished with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and Ben Miller added 11 points, including three of the Axemen three-pointers.
The Axemen improved to 3-5 with their first win of the second half, tied with 3-6 St. F.X. for sixth place. The 0-8 Axewomen, meanwhile, are still in search of their first regular season victory.
Volleyball Axewomen split weekend matches
Acadia’s women’s volleyball team split its weekend matches Jan. 10-11, edging Moncton three-sets to two Jan. 10 in Wolfville, then dropping a 3-0 decision to Dalhousie Jan. 11 in Halifax.
Against Moncton, a total team effort helped Acadia to a 16-25, 25-21, 20-25, 25-22, 15-8 victory, their second of the season.
Jazmin Logue Prest led the Axewomen with 10 kills and 42 total attack points on offence and 17 digs. Sarah Ross had 14 kills and 42 total attack points. Tessa Bulmer had 28 assists, and Kailey Evans had 21 digs.
Marissa Chin (eight kills, 24 total attack points) and Kaitlyn Franklin (nine kills, 21 total attack points) also had strong contributions.
Against Dalhousie, the Tigers swept the match by scores of 25-15, 25-14, 25-16. Ross and Chin had seven kills each, Olivia Boudreault and Bulmer had 11 assists apiece, and Hillary Monette had 12 digs for the Axewomen.
