Captain Heelis leads Axemen to 9-1 win over Tommies

(FREDERICTON, N.B.) - It was all Axemen, all night at the Grant Harvey Centre in Fredericton on Friday night as Acadia scored six third period goals on route to 9-1 win over the St. Thomas Tommies in AUS men's hockey action.

Team captain Liam Heelis, the league's top scorer, had a hat trick and added two assists, while defenseman Christopher Buonomo scored two goals and Dustin Ekelman added a goal and an assist.

Brendan Childerley scored the lone Tommies marker in the third period to break the shutout bid by Acadia's Evan Mosher.

Jon Groenheyde made 32 saves in the loss while Mosher made only 10 stops for the win.

Heelis received high praise from his coach after the game, "His game is getting better and better. He's certainly a throwback; there is no arrogance about him. He's an exceptional leader for us," said Darren Burns.

"We've got to be a good skating team to win and tonight we were that."

The Axemen managed 12 shots on the St. Thomas net in the first period.

The Tommies struggled to break out of their own zone effectively all night, getting their first shot on net 11:55 into the first period.

Heelis who led the attack, got his 14^th of the season at 13:02. Travis Randell then doubled the Axemen advantage, roofing a rebound over Groenheyde late in the period for his first marker of the season.

The second period played out in similar fashion as St. Thomas often struggled to maintain an organized Axeman offence. Strong cycling would often result in the Axemen causing numerous turnovers. Groenheyde kept his Tommies in the game, making several saves, many of which were spectacular.

Especially frustrated was big Acadia defender Leo Jenner, who was robbed of power-play goals several times by Groenheyde. The Tommies tested Mosher three times in the second frame. It was Ekelman who scored the only goal of the period, burying a goal with 53 seconds remaining to put his Axemen up 3-0.

Acadia's dominance finally paid off on the scoreboard in the third. Heelis finished his hat trick early in the frame with power play and shorthanded markers for his 15^th and CIS-leading 16^th goal of the year. 

After Childerley scored at 11:47 the Axemen piled on another four goals in eight minutes, three on the power-play, to bury the home side.

"I don't know if our team thinks we're going to be better just because we added guys and we don't have to go out there to work and compete every shift. It's kind of got me at a loss right now," said St. Thomas head coach Pat Powers. 

Both teams were coming off of big wins before the holiday break; the Tommies won a tight 5-4 decision against the St. Francis Xavier X-men while the Axemen defeated the University of New Brunswick V-Reds 5-1 in Wolfville.

The Tommies host the Dalhousie Tigers  squad at the Grant Harvey Centre Saturday evening while the Axemen will head to UPEI to face the Panthers. Both games will be available live via webcast at www.AUStv.ca.

The Tigers saw their Friday night game against UPEI postponed due to a winter storm.

Source: St. Thomas Sports Information