WOLFVILLE N.S. – The Acadia Axemen's preseason winning run came to an end after an overtime thriller on Saturday night against McGill University.
Hockey fans at the Andrew H. McCain Arena were once again treated to a whirlwind of a first period, and they certainly did not have long to wait for the first celebrations.
Just ten seconds into the game Axemen forward Cristiano Digiacinto redirected a Liam Maaskant point shot past the goalie for the first goal of the game. Stephen Harper was credited with the second assist.
At 4:31 into the period McGill's Antoine Dufort-Plante struck on the power play after ripping one from the top of the circles over goaltender Dawson Carty's right shoulder. Assists went to Nikolas Brouillard and Christophe Lalonde.
Just a few minutes later Rodney Southam tallied his own powerplay goal after tapping in a cross-crease pass from Ryan Foss at the 7:48 mark. Garrett McFadden was the second assist on the play.
With a little over three quarters gone in the frame, Phil Gilmour evened the score for McGill after a shot from the corner somehow found its way into the back of the Acadia net. Harlan Orr and Nathanael Halbert assisted.
An even 2-2 score is where the period concluded.
It took just 1:49 of second-period action for the next goal to be scored, as Ryan Penny was able to bury a Michael Cramarossa pass on a 2 on 1 rush to give McGill its first lead of the game.
Michael Campoli recorded his first point of the night with the other assist on the goal.
Rodney Southam grabbed his second goal of the game after squeezing one through McGill goalie Emanuel Vella on the doorstep of the crease just 7:23 into the frame. Maurizio Colella and Tate Olsen recorded their first points of the night with assists on the goal.
With just under two minutes remaining in the frame, Antoine Dufort-Plante added to his point total after his shot generated a rebound that teammate Blake Hayward batted in at waist-height. Keanu Yamamoto also assisted.
The second period would come to a close with McGill leading 4 goals to 3.
Once again, the first few minutes of a period did not disappoint.
Axemen forward Ryan Foss tucked home the game-tying goal with a tap-in off an Owen MacDonald feed just 1:47 in. Cristiano Digiacinto tallied his second point with an additional assist on the goal.
Neither squad could muster anything else up for the rest of the third and headed into an extra 5 minutes of hockey.
The overtime period featured multiple crazy chances and fantastic saves but finished with just 1:36 left on the clock. The 3 on 3 hockey period was ended thanks to McGill's Ryan Penny, who stole the puck from an Acadia player and rushed up the ice to eventually fire a slapshot underneath the Acadia netminder.
Acadia outshot McGill 36-31, and both teams finished 1 for 4 on the powerplay.
Acadia concludes their preseason with two wins and an overtime loss and look to start off the regular season with a win against the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus on Friday night. McGill looks to build off the win as they play the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres
in their last preseason game next Sunday before kicking off their OUA season.
Provided by Griffin Herrington, Acadia Athletics Communications