No. 4 -ranked Axemen drop second ranked V-Reds 3-2 in battle of top two AUS teams

(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - The CIS No. 4-ranked Acadia Axemen skated to a 3-2 win over the No. 2-ranked UNB Varsity Reds in a battle of the conference's top two teams. Acadia will head into the holiday break in first place in the AUS conference with a 12-3-1 record, one point ahead of UNB.

Both teams will meet again January 4th in Fredericton for their final match up this season.

Subway first star of the game, Evan Mosher, backstopped the Axemen, stopping 43 UNB shots as the V-Reds outshot Acadia 45-28.

Acadia picked up a 1-0 lead off of Andrew Clark's eighth goal of the season at 13:23 of the first frame. Clark's goal would stand the test of time until 14:53 of the second period when former Halifax Mooseheads star Cam Critchlow netted the tying goal.

Applying the pressure to score a go-ahead goal in the dying seconds of the second period with the man advantage, the Varsity Reds ended up allowing a short-handed goal by Dustin Ekelman to close out the period with a 2-1 Axemen lead.

Clark, the reigning CIS player of the year, picked up his second goal of the night and fourth of the weekend, three minutes into the third period to give Acadia a 3-1 lead.

UNB turned up the pressure in the third, out-shooting the Axemen 19-8, but Mosher held on to the two point lead until 48 seconds remaining the game. A high shot from the point deflected off of former Saint Mary's Huskies forward Cory Pridham's upper body, sneaking past Mosher.

Penalties were few, compared to Friday night's 158 minute outing against the UPEI Panthers, as fans were entertained by a fast-paced exciting game that featured great scoring opportunities for both teams. Travis Fullerton stopped several golden opportunities late in the second and leading into third, while Mosher held his own for 60 minutes.

The Axemen were without service from senior forward Spencer Jezegou, who suffered a concussion in Friday night's game against the Panthers. Also out of the line-up was AUS all-star and leading scorer Chris Owens. The defenseman suffered a blow to head in an incident Friday evening that knocked him unconscious and drew a match penalty.

Daine Todd was named the Subway Third Star, while Andrew Clark grabbed second star honours for his two-goal performance.

The Axemen now lead the AUS with 25 points, while the Varsity Reds are one point back with 24. The red-hot Saint Mary's Huskies, who grabbed a 3-2 overtime shoot-out win against Acadia last weekend, are on a five game winning streak and find themselves in third place, one point behind UNB.

Acadia will hope for the return of Jezegou and Owens following the Exam and holiday break where the Axemen return to take on the visiting University of Toronto Varsity Blues in exhibition play on Saturday, Dec. 29 in Wolfville.

Notes: 20 years ago the Varsity Blues and Axemen met in the CIS University Cup championship game with Acadia prevailing in a 12-1 win and their first of two National Championships. Current head coach Darren Burns captained the 1992-93 team.

Source: Acadia Sports Information