CIS No. 3 Axemen tie series at one with 4-3 win over No. 5 Huskies

(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - The CIS No. 3-ranked Acadia Axemen tied the best-of-five Subway AUS men's hockey semi-final playoff series at one with a 4-3 win over the No. 5 Saint Mary's Huskies in Wolfville Thursday.

Heading into the final minutes of the game tied at three, first-year forward Remy Giftopolous (Ancaster, Ont.) became the hero of Game 2 with the Axemen's fourth and final goal.

Bradley Greene (Tilting, Ont.) struck first at 15:39 of the opening period, giving the Huskies their first of two leads.

Just over two minutes later, Brett Thompson (Sault Ste Marie, Ont.), who returned to the ice from the penalty box, was dragged down by a Huskies defenceman on a breakaway, giving Thompson the coveted penalty shot.

Thompson capitalized on the assessed penalty shot, scoring his first goal of the postseason and tying the game at one after one period.

Fourth-year forward Matt Tipoff (Toronto, Ont.), named the second star of the game, gave Saint Mary's their second and final lead of the game only three minutes into the second frame.

Not until 16:06 of the second period did the Axemen tie the game at two. Boston Leier (Saskatoon, Sask.) scored tying goal on a break-away, his first of the playoffs and eighth goal of his rookie season.

Last year's CIS player of the year and team captain, Liam Heelis (Georgetown, Ont.), gave Acadia their first lead of the game on his first goal of the postseason with just under six minutes remaining in the third period.

Second-year Huskies defenceman Stephen Gillard (St. John's, N.L.) tied the game for a third time just over two minutes after Heelis's goal.

Heading into the final minutes of the game, tied at three, Subway first star of the game Remy Giftopolous scored the game winner to give Acadia the 4-3 victory over Saint Mary's.

Once again, Huskies goaltender Anthony Peters (Blyth, Ont.) was stellar, backstopping 39 of 43 shots on net while Acadia's Brandon Glover (Victoria, B.C.) was tested with 26 shots.

With the best-of-five series tied at one, the Axemen and Huskies will square off on Sunday at the Halifax Forum for Game 3 starting at 7 p.m.

Source: Acadia Sports Communications