Axemen open semifinal series with 4-1 win versus Huskies

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – The unranked Acadia Axemen opened the best of five semifinal series with a 4-1 win over the U SPORTS No. 9 ranked Saint Mary's Huskies.

Axeman Logan Flodell was named the Subway Player of the Game stopping 33 of 34 shots for the win. Flodell was recently named the AUS Most Valuable Player by the AUS head coaches.

Flodell praised the effort by his defensive unit during a hard-fought game against the Huskies.

"Our D worked on picking up sticks around the net. That's what they wanted to do was throw pucks around my feet and get rebounds and they did that pretty well tonight and our defense battled hard," noted Flodell following the game.

The opening period was scoreless with the Huskies out-shooting the host Axemen 11-5, but the game opened up after five and half minutes into the second frame.

Third-year forward Cristiano Digiacinto scored the series-opening goal after tapping in a pass across the crease from teammate Tate Olson.

The Axemen pushed the lead to 2-0 on a Mason McCarty goal a minute and eighteen seconds later. McCarty picked up the loose puck in front of the Huskies' net after a feed from Owen MacDonald.

The Huskies cut the lead in half on a late second period goal when Joel Bishop picked up a turned over puck on a misplay behind the net.

With a 2-1 deficit and 22-14 shots on goal advantage, the Huskies fell short in tying the game in the third period. Acadia's Garrett McFadden scored at the 3:11 mark of the final frame on a feed from Rodney Southam who picked up the puck from behind the net on a shot that the Huskies thought was an icing call. McFadden one-timed the shot for the Axemen's third goal of the night.

An empty-net goal with 46 seconds remaining in the game by Rodney Southam solidified the win for the Axemen.

The Huskies out-shot Acadia 34-24, but Flodell grabbed his second playoff win of his two-year university career. Eric Brassard picked up the loss with 21 saves.

The Axemen were 0-3 on the powerplay, while Huskies were 0-5.

Both teams will meet again on Saturday in Wolfville in the second of a best of five semifinal series. Puck drops at 7:00 p.m.