No. 4 Axemen send No. 8 Saint Mary’s home with OT loss

Wolfville, NS - Acadia's Jonathan Laberge helped the CIS #4 ranked Axemen maintain their now 10 game winning streak with a 5-4 overtime victory against the CIS #8 ranked Saint Mary's Huskies. Laberge, a second year forward from Ste-foy, QC who was named the AUS Hockey Conference Rookie of the Year last season, netted three goals including the game winner in overtime.

The Huskies, who came into the game with a game in hand and one point behind the second place Axemen in the ever-competitive AUS hockey conference, needed the win begin their "jockeying" for a second place standing in the tight AUS standings race.

With a 10-6 shots on net advantage after one period, Saint Mary's Marc Rancourt scored the opening goal of the game with only 3;35 expired on the clock. The Huskies followed less than six minutes later with their second goal by Scott Brophy.

At 14:30, Acadia's David Lomas scored his seventh goal of the season on the power play to bring the Axemen to within one. Huskie Scott Brophy scored his second goal with just over a minute remaining in the period to give Saint Mary's a commanding 3-1 lead after only one period of play.

Sloppy defensive play in Acadia's own end contributed to the first period Huskie lead, but a stronger second period was evident with the Axemen scoring the two goals in the second period.

Laberge's hat trick began with his first of two power play goals at 4:58 of the second period on the power play. Laberge scored his second goal of the evening nearly six minutes later to tie the game at three.

Twenty one seconds after Laberge's second goal, third year forward Cody Thorton nudged the Huskies' into a one point lead, capitalizing on an Axemen defensive blunder that ended the second period scoring.

Acadia's Ryan Graham scored his fourth goal of the season with less than fourteen minutes remaining in the final frame to tie the game for a second time.

With a man advantage in a four on three scenario in the overtime period, Acadia's Jonathan Laberge captured the hearts of Acadia fans with the overtime winning goal to give Acadia their tenth win in a row, last losing to the undefeated UNB Varsity Reds in Fredericton on October 30th.

Outshot 32-23 by Saint Mary's, Acadia's Head Coach Darren Burns was humble over the win. "Obviously against such a strong team like Saint Mary's, this is a great positive win for us. It was a very hard fought game and our team got better during the course of the game. I was impressed by our poise and ability to shake off some rough spots and regroup".

Second year goaltender Kris Westblom made 28 saves including a game high of 12 in the second period, while first year Huskie netminder Neil Conway was tested throughout the game including four shots in the eight minutes of overtime.

The Axemen, who have faced Saint Mary's three times this season, have a 2-1 series advantage with two overtime wins against the Huskies. Acadia's last loss to Saint Mary's was on October 21 in Halifax.

Improving to 12-3, Acadia will hit the road on Saturday to face the StFX X-men in Antigonish. StFX will hope to rebound from a 5-2 loss to the 4-8-3 Dalhousie Tigers, while Saint Mary's travels across town to take on the Tigers in Halifax.

Source:

Eric Cederberg
Coordinator, Events and Sports Information
Department of Varsity Athletics
Box 99, Acadia University