By Mark Moffat
In AUS men's hockey action at the Halifax Forum, the Dalhousie Tigers defeated the Acadia Axemen 6-2 in a game that was defined and dictated by penalties.
In the first period, Dalhousie got the first goal when Jonathan Cyr (Ottawa, ON) collected a loose puck, cut across the slot and put a backhand into the net at 2:28 to make it 1-0. The seemingly endless string of penalties started in the first period and didn't waiver, with 10 infractions called in the first period and 21 called in the game. Both teams were playing intense out of the gate, which led to occasion skirmishes after the whistle in this period, and throughout the game. The first ended with a 1-0 Tigers lead.
The second period saw Dalhousie get another one as Josh Worthen (Dartmouth, NS) got a rebound in the slot and fired a wrist shot in at 3:14 on the powerplay to make it 2-0. Acadia struck back when Rodney Southam (Saskatoon, SK) got the puck after some pretty passing and put a wrist shot from the slot in at 11:26 on the powerplay to narrow it to 2-1. The Tigers would regain the two goal lead as Mike Evelyn (Ottawa, ON) managed to score from in close as he was taking a spinning fall at 14:04 on the powerplay to give Dalhousie a 3-1 lead after two periods.
As the third period got going, the Axemen quickly narrowed the lead when Ryan Foss (Oakville, ON) got the puck after it hit the leg of an Acadia player and put a wrist shot in from the slot at 2:01 to make the score 3-2. Dalhousie responded when Subway Player of the Game Colton Heffley (Swift Current, SK) unleashed a slapshot from the point, through traffic, into the net at 7:39 on a five on three powerplay to put the Tigers ahead 4-2. Dalhousie padded their lead when Alex Pawelczyk (Sterling Heights, MI) got a rebound and took advantage of partial chaos in front of the Axemen net to put it in from between the blue line and the top of the circle at 8:25 on the powerplay to put the Tigers ahead 5-2. Dalhousie would add another insurance marker when Heffley potted an empty netter at 18:44 to seal the win.
The Axemen outshot the Tigers 29-26. Corbin Boes (Saskatoon, SK) made 27 saves for the Tigers, while Robert Steeves (St. Joseph-de-Kent, NB) stopped 20 shots for the Axemen. Drew Lawson (Brockville, ON) played the last minute and 10 seconds in goal for Acadia.
Dalhousie's next game is on Wednesday at 7:00 pm against the Moncton Aigles Bleus at the Forum in the Bell Let's Talk game, while the Axemen next see action on Friday against the UPEI Panthers at 7:00 pm in Wolfville.