SASKATOON, Sask. - Two unanswered third period goals led to the CIS No. 3 seeded Windsor Lancers handing the No. 2 Axemen a 4-2 loss in Acadia's first game of the University Cup in Saskatoon.
Acadia's Mike Cazzola scored just over a minute into the opening period on a scramble in front of the net to give Acadia an early lead. With a 1-0 lead that extended into the closing minutes of the first, Lancer Richard Cameron tied the game at one with just over three minutes remaining.
CIS Outstanding Player of the Year, Liam Heelis, broke the tie early in the second frame on a beautiful feed from linemate Mike Cazzola with only 1:43 off the clock.
At 12:43 on the powerplay, Drew Palmer scored his sixth goal of the post-season to tie the game at two heading into the dressing room.
Out-shooting the Lancers 23-18 after two periods, the tables reversed with Windsor posting a 10-4 shots on goal advantage in the third. Windsor's Kenny Bradford, on the man-advantage, scored the first of two unanswered goals in the third period to give Windsor a 3-2 edge early in the third.
Just over three minutes later, Mike Christou scored the insurance goal, giving Windsor a 4-2 lead that would hold for the remaining 16 minutes.
Acadia's Liam Heelis, who was named the Acadia Player of the Game, pointed out that the physical aspect of the game was not necessarily the factor that decided this games outcome. "I think we got excited tonight - the tournament is an exciting time - that leads to mistakes and they capitalized on those", pointed out Heelis. "As for the physicalty, its playoff time and everyone is coming out to play and we need to be prepared for that and fight back".
Two Axemen defensemen left the game after solid hits. Cazzola picked up an assist and a goal for the Axemen, padding his playoff statistics to 4 goals and 7 assists in nine games, while Heelis notched his sixth goal of the playoffs and added a seventh assist.
The Axemen will face the hometown University of Saskatchewan Huskies tomorrow night at 7:00 pm CST and hope to stay alive with a win and an eventual loss by Windsor against the Huskies on Saturday night.