No. 6-ranked Axemen move into tie for second with 5-2 win over Tommies

WOLFVILLE, NS – The CIS No. 6-ranked Acadia Axemen fired a season-high 71 shots at St. Thomas Tommies goalie Jonathan Groenheyde as the home side skated to a 5-2 win in AUS men's hockey action Saturday night in Wolfville.

Groenheyde made 66 saves and was named the Subway Player of the Game for his performance keeping the Tommies within reach of Acadia at the end of the second period.

The Axemen jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead after one period, landing 29 shots on net in the first frame. Mike Cazzola scored his ninth goal of the season and the first of his three goals for the night just over five minutes into the game.

Alex Beaton scored at 14:30 in the first and teammate Brett Thompson netted his tenth goal of his rookie year to give Acadia a commanding 3-0 lead after the opening 20 minutes.

The Tommies' Jonathan Bonneau scored just over a minute into the second period and Alex Labonte nailed in his second goal of the season to narrow the St. Thomas deficit to 3-2 after two periods of play.

Cazzola struck for a second time, his tenth of the season, at 12:37 of the final period to give Acadia a 4-2 edge heading into the final seven and a half minutes. Cazzola added his third of the night into an empty net to give the Axemen a 5-2 win.

The Axemen improve to 16-7-2 and are tied for second place in the AUS standings at 34 points with the Saint Mary's Huskies. Both the Huskies and Acadia trail first place UNB by six points.

The Tommies drop to 3-21-1 with the loss.

The Axemen have three remaining games, including a Friday, February 1st game at StFX and then return home for final two regular season games with Saint Mary's on Saturday, February 2nd and their season finale at home versus the Dalhousie Tigers on Friday, February 8th.

Source: Acadia Sports Information