No. 8 ranked Axemen outlast Aigles Blues in 2-OT to advance to semifinal round

(WOLFVILLE, N.S.) - Mike Cazzola's goal with under nine minutes remaining in the second overtime period gave the CIS No. 8-ranked Acadia Axemen a 4-3 game three victory and a 2-1 win in their best two-of-three Subway AUS quarter-final series against the Moncton Aigles Bleus.

Cazzola's fourth goal of the series against the Aigles Bleus came shortly after he was assessed a delay of game penalty at 6:16 of the second extra period.

The Aigles Bleus, who were out-shot 51-28 in regulation time, opened the first period with a goal by Maxim Pilon - Moncton's first shot on net with five minutes off of the clock.

Defenseman Chris Owens responded for the Axemen late in the opening period to tie the game at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.

While the Axemen outshot Moncton 18-8 in the second, only one goal was scored with Michael Ward netting his first goal of the post-season to give Acadia a 2-1 lead heading into the final period.

Moncton tied the game at two, early in the third frame, when Christian Gaudet netted his first goal off of a feed from Alex Noel. The Aigles Bleus took their second lead of the game when Sameul Groulx took advantage of a power-play opportunity to give Moncton a 3-2 advantage.

Liam Heelis, named the Subway Player of the Game, tied the game at 4-4, just nine seconds after the Groulx go-ahead goal.

After one ten-minute period of overtime, the game was extended into a second 20-minute overtime session where Cazzola netted the game-winner.

Outshooting the Aigles Bleus 68-39, the Axemen were 0-for-7 on the power-play, landing only 12 shots on net.

Evan Mosher picked up his second win between the pipes for the Axemen, after replacing Peter DiSalvo following Acadia's game one loss in the quarter-final series.

The third place Axemen will now advance to the best three-of-five Subway AUS semifinal series where they will take on the second-seeded Saint Mary's Huskies.

The other semifinal will see the fifth-seeded UPEI Panthers, who defeated the StFX X-Men in two straight games, take on the CIS No. 1-ranked UNB Varsity Reds.

The Huskies and Axemen met four times in regular season play this year, with Saint Mary's winning three of their four meetings.

All games of both semifinals will be available live via webcast at www.AUStv.ca.

Source: Acadia Sports Information