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Acadia hosting final 2022 hockey games

JASON MALLOY ANNAPOLIS VALLEY REGISTER jason.malloy @saltwire.com @JasonMa47772994

The Acadia Axemen host the first-place UNB Reds and Moncton Aigles Bleus this week as the 2022 portion of the Atlantic University Sport (AUS) hockey season winds down.

The Axemen (3-9-1-1) host UNB (12-2-0-0) on Friday, Nov. 25, and Moncton (9-5-00) on Saturday, Nov. 26. Both games begin at 7 p.m. They are the Axemen's final homes games of 2022. Acadia closes out the first half at St. F.X. on Nov. 30 and Dalhousie on Dec. 3.

Head coach Darren Burns said they are looking to finish strong and have talked about the importance of staying focused.

“There’s lots of points still on the board and it’s very easy to fade off this time of year for a lot of reasons,” he said, noting the coaching staff has tried different things to keep things fresh for the players. “We’ve tried to shorten our practices but keep the intensity up.”

The young team has played well defensively in the first half and is looking to make gains in other areas while continuing to get better.

“The improvement in our team has been very noticeable to us. Obviously, we have to continue to try to generate more offence.”

The Axemen, who have dropped six straight games, have dealt with some injuries during the first half but are expected to get sophomore forward Keegan Stevenson back this week.

“We feel if we’re a healthy team then we’re a tough team to play against,” Burns said.

Acadia picked up one point in two recent road games. They were blanked 2-0 by the UPEI Panthers on Nov. 16 and lost 3-2 in a shootout to the Saint Mary’s Huskies.

UPEI 2 Acadia 0

Lucas Fitzpatrick made 19 saves for the shutout as the Panthers defeated the Axemen 2-0.

Zachary Paputsakis stopped 27 shots in the loss.

Drake Pilon, on the power play, and captain Troy Lajeunesse scored for the home side.

Saint Mary’s 3 Acadia 2 SO

Bradey Johnson and Charie Dafonseca scored in the shootout and goalie Jeremy Helvig was perfect as the Huskies won 3-2.

Acadia’s Peyton Hoyt forced overtime with a power-play goal with 1:01 left in regulation.

Captain Jack Flaman also scored while assists went to Corson Hopwo, Nick DeakinPoot, Adam McMaster and Bailey Peach.

Connor Olson and Andrew

Coxhead, on the power play, scored for the home side.

The Huskies held 1-0 and 2-1 period leads.

Helvig made 33 saves in regulation and overtime while Paputsakis stopped 26 shots.

VOLLEYBALL

The Axewomen closed out the 2022 portion of their volleyball schedule by going 1-2 at the AUS tournament in St. John’s, N.L.

Acadia defeated Saint Mary’s 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-23) and lost 3-2 (25-21, 18-25, 26-28, 25-19, 25-13) to Dalhousie and 3-2 (25-21, 14-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-7) to Moncton.

Taylor Witty led the Axewomen attack against Saint Mary’s with 11 kills while Rebecca Dorsey had 21 digs and Jenna Lake two blocks. Eve Collombin and Charlotte Dean each had two aces.

Sydney Zakutney and Collombin had 22 and 16 kills, respectively, against Dal while

Erica Fisher had two aces and two blocks. Zakutney, Dorsey and Collombin had 24, 23 and 21 digs, respectively.

Wesley-Ann Bailey had 10 kills, four blocks and two aces against Moncton. Witty and Lake had 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while Dorsey had 27 digs.

Acadia (7-2) is in second place, two points back of Dalhousie (8-1). The Axewomen return to the court Jan. 14 at Saint Mary’s before hosting Moncton on Jan. 15.

BASKETBALL

The Acadia basketball teams had their games at Dalhousie postponed on Nov. 18 due to a facility issue. They will be made up Thursday, Dec. 1 in Halifax.

Acadia played at Saint Mary’s on Nov. 23, but results were unavailable at press time. The Axewomen entered this week’s action 5-1 while the Axemen were 1-5.

SPORTS

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2022-11-24T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-24T08:00:00.0000000Z

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