U SPORTS – Acadia Axemen defeat Alberta Golden Bears to advance to semi finals

FREDERICTON (U SPORTS) – The Acadia University Axemen, seeded last in the top eight teams, eliminated the top-ranked University of Alberta Golden Bears by a 4-1 score in the opening game of the 2017 U SPORTS Cavendish Farms University Cup at the Aitken University Centre in Fredericton. The tournament is being hosted by the University of New Brunswick. 

University Cup website: www.universitycup.ca

The Axemen now advance to the first semifinal game, to be held at noon local time on Saturday. They will face the winner of the second quarter-final, between the host UNB Varsity Reds and Queen’s Gaels. 

The Golden Bears scored the only goal of the first period. Taylor Cooper (Sherwood Park, Alta.) scored at 10:07 on an Axemen turn over, beating Acadia goaltender Robert Steeves (Moncton, N.B.) for the even-strength marker. 

But the Axemen  rallied with two in the second and another pair in the third, including an empty-net marker with only seconds to go in the game, to clinch the win and the upset. All goals scored were even strength. Kyle Farrell (Howie Center, N.S.) beat Golden Bears goalie Brendan Burke (Scottsdale, Ariz.) at 1:04 of the second, and Boston Leier (Saskatoon, SK) scored what would prove to be the game winner at 14:19 of the frame.

Acadia added an insurance marker  with just under four and a half minutes left  in the game  when Stephen Harper (Burlington, Ont.) took a break-out pass from Brett Thompson, and deked out Burke.  He had missed on a similar opportunity in the first period. Daniel Petterson (Toronto, Ont.) put the game away with  just 6.9 seconds left to play when he scored into the empty net. 

Alberta outshot Acadia 35-26. Steeves was named Acadia’s Adidas Player of the Game, but deflected the accolades.

“It was more of a team game than a goaltender battle,” he said. “The team battled hard all night long, and they let me see everything so I could make the saves.”

This was Acadia Axemen coach Darren Burns’ first win at the University Cup . His teams had previously lost five in a row . Burns credited his players for the victory.  

“We prepared with video, and certainly (Alberta) has a ton of talent, and draw from the Western Hockey League, but we knew we had to play our game,” said Burns. Bob (Steeves) is a tremendous competitor.  He battled hard. We realized going into the second period we had to win more face-offs, and gain puck possession. Our top guys came through but the whole team gave a competitive team effort. 

Golden Bears head coach Serge Lajoie was clearly disappointed at the end of the game.

 “Our energy could have been better on the power play,” he said, after Alberta went 0-6 on the man-advantage..  “Our special teams have to be special. Our PK was good, but we could have done better.” 

Alberta  iced a very young roster , with 16 players playing in their first or second year for the team. 

“We don’t offer any excuses,” said Lajoie, whose team lost for the second straight year in the national quarterfinals. “We were loose, we had lots of composure. And we can’t let one game define our whole season. “Yes, I am disappointed, but we have to let the dust settle, let the group compose themselves, and look ahead.”  

Cooper, with the team’s only goal, three shots and a plus-one was named Player of the Game for Alberta  

Saturday will see two semifinal games, at noon and at 4 p.m. local time. The bronze medal game will be played at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, while  the gold medal game will  start at 1 p.m, local time. 

SCORING SUMMARY

Official Boxscore: http://en.usports.ca/championships/mice/2017/boxscores_champ/20170316_ypk1.xml

First Period

ALTA Taylor Cooper (1) (Lucas Nickles) 10:07

Penalties

Baillie (ALTA) interference 11:12

Leier (ACA) high sticking 11:51

Second Period

ACA Kyle Farrell (1) (Remy Giftopolous, Chance Braid) 01:04

ACA Boston Leier (Sam Fioretti) (1) 14:19

Penalties

Thompson (ACA) hooking 01:27

Leier (ACA) tripping 05:25

Pufaul (ACA) roughing 09:05

Schemitsch (ACA) hooking 16:04

Lepkowski (ACA) slashing 17:48

Rehill (ALTA) slashing 17:48

Cooper (ALTA) high sticking 18:11

Third Period

ACA Stephen Harper (1) (Brett Thompson) 15:32

ACA Daniel Pettersson (1) (unassisted) 19:53 EN

Penalties

(none)

GOALS (by period)

ALTA 1-0-0: 1

ACA 0-2-2: 4

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)

ALTA 13-10-12: 35

ACA 9-7-10: 26

POWER PLAY:

ALTA 0-5

ACA 0-2

GOALTENDERS

ALTA – Brendan Burke (L, 0-1, 25 shots, 22 saves, 3 GA, 58:15)

ACA – Robert Steeves (W, 1-0, 35 shots, 34 saves, 1 GA, 60:00)

ADIDAS PLAYERS OF THE GAME

ALTA – Taylor Cooper

ACA – Robert Steeves

REFEREES: Korey Bannerman, Stephen Starzomski

LINESMEN: Dave Geris, John MacDonnell

ATTENDANCE: 3109

START: 1:00pm Atl.

END: 3:35pm Atl.

LENGTH: 2:35

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All Times AT)

Thursday, March 16, 2017

1:00pm Quarter-final 1: No. 1 Alberta 1, No. 8 Acadia 4 (USPORTS.LIVE)

8:00pm Quarter-final 2: No. 4 Queen’s vs. No. 5 UNB (USPORTS.LIVE)

Friday, March 17, 2017

1:00pm Quarter-final 3: No. 3 York vs. No. 6 Saskatchewan (USPORTS.LIVE)

7:00pm Quarter-final 4: No. 2 StFX vs. No. 7 McGill (USPORTS.LIVE)

Saturday, March 18, 2017

12:00PM Semi-final 1:  Acadia vs. Winner QF 2 (Sportsnet 360 / SN NOW)

4:00PM Semi-final 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (Sportsnet 360 / SN NOW)

Sunday, March 19, 2017

9:30AM Bronze (USPORTS.LIVE)

1:00PM Gold (Sportsnet 360 / SN NOW)

About U SPORTS

U SPORTS is the national brand for University Sports in Canada. Every year, over 12,000 student-athletes and 500 coaches from 56 universities vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. U SPORTS also provides higher performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit usports.ca or follow us on:

Twitter: @USPORTSca
Facebook: @USPORTSCanada
YouTube:  @USPORTSca 
Instagram: @USPORTSca
Snapchat: @USPORTSca

-U SPORTS –

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy
Manager, Communications
U SPORTS
Cell: 647-871-7595
ksainteloy@usports.ca 

Alan Hudes 
Coordinator, Communications
U SPORTS
Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242
Cell: 647-991-5343
ahudes@usports.ca

2017 U SPORTS Cavendish Farms University Cup
Andy Campbell
University of New Brunswick
Off: 506-451-6894
Cell: 506-470-5578
andy.campbell@unb.ca 

---

QF2: 2017 U SPORTS Cavendish Farms University Cup

UNB ends Gaels’ quest to be Golden

FREDERICTON (U SPORTS) – The host UNB Varsity Reds defeated the No. 5-seeded Queen’s Golden Gaels 5-1 in the second quarter-final of the 2017 U SPORTS Cavendish Farms University Cup men’s hockey championship in Fredericton, N.B. A capacity crowd of 3,374 saw Philippe Maillet pick up a hat-trick to lead the hosts into the semifinal round and earn Player of the Game honours.

University Cup website: www.universitycup.ca

The Gaels, who only arrived in Fredericton on Thursday afternoon after a two-day bus odyssey through this week’s blizzard, were first on the scoreboard, as Spencer Abraham found the net at the 2:21 mark, assisted by Eric Ming and Slater Dogget. Abraham was named Player of the Game for Queen’s.

The Varsity Reds responded less than a minute later, on Maillet’s first of the game, and Christophe Clappet scored with two minutes left in the period to put UNB up for good.

UNB extended their lead in the second period with three goals in less than five minutes midway through the frame. Goals by Maillet at 7:43 and 12:11 sandwiched Philippe Halley’s first goal of the tournament at 11:49.

UNB went 0-for-5 on the power play, while Queen’s went 0-for-6. The Varsity Reds outshot Queen’s 40-15.

For UNB, Etienne Marcoux picked up the win, making 14 saves, while Kevin Baillie took the loss for Queen’s, making 31 saves on 36 shots in 50:50. Jacob Brennan played the final 9:10 of the game for Queen’s, stopping all four shots he faced.

With the win, the No. 4-seeded Varsity Reds advanced to Saturday’s national semifinal, where they will play the No. 8-seeded Acadia Axemen, who defeated top-seeded Alberta earlier Thursday. The Acadia-UNB semifinal is set for noon (Atlantic time) on Saturday.

Official Boxscore: 

http://en.usports.ca/championships/mice/2017/boxscores_champ/20170316_cd09.xml 

First Period 

QUE Spencer Abraham (1) (Eric Ming, Slater Doggett) 02:21

UNB Phillipe Maillet (1) (Phillipe Halley) 03:08

UNB Christophe Clappert (1) (Philippe Maillet, Mark Simpson) 18:00

Penalties 

Thompson (QUE) interference 05:36

Boudens (UNB) boarding 07:51

Steele (QUE) cross-checking 09:01

Suellentrop (UNB) roughing 18:22

Ming (QUE) roughing 18:22

Petgrave (UNB) tripping 18:22

Second Period 

UNB Phillipe Maillet (2) (Randy Gazzola, Christophe Clappert) 07:43

UNB Phillipe Halley (1) (Rob Mignardi, Matt Boudens) 11:49

UNB Phillipe Maillet (3) (Cam Braes, Colin Suellentrop) 12:11

Penalties 

Caissy (UNB) tripping 7:46

Petgrave (UNB) tripping 12:31

Ming (QUE) boarding 13:23

Genovese (QUE) cross-checking 15:25

Third Period 

No Scoring

Penalties 

Beauvillier (UNB) cross-checking 02:35

Suellentrop (UNB) roughing after the whistle 08:36

Genovese (QUE) roughing after the whistle 08:36

Beauvillier (UNB) roughing after the whistle 08:36

Hendrix (QUE) cross-checking 08:36

Maillet (UNB) tripping 08:47

Ming (QUE) high-sticking 14:30

GOALS (by period)

UNB 2-3-0: 5

QUE 1-0-0: 1

SHOTS ON GOAL (by period)

QUE 15-8-7: 40

UNB 6-4-5: 15

POWER PLAY:

QUE 0-6

UNB 0-5

GOALTENDERS

QUE – Kevin Bailie (L, 0-1, 36 shots, 31 saves, 5 GA, 50:50)

QUE – Jacob Brennan (4 shots, 4 saves, 09:10)

UNB – Etienne Marcoux (W, 1-0, 15 shots, 14 saves, 1 GA, 60:00)

ADIDAS PLAYERS OF THE GAME

QUE – Spencer Abraham

UNB – Phillipe Maillet

REFEREES: Mario Maillet, Colin Watt

LINESMEN: Mike MacDonnell, Jesse Marquis

ATTENDANCE: 3374

Start: 8:08 pm

End: 10:37

LENGTH: 2:29

SCHEDULE & RESULTS (All Times AT)

Thursday, March 16, 2017

1:00pm Quarter-final 1: No. 1 Alberta 1, No. 8 Acadia 4 (USPORTS.LIVE)

8:00pm Quarter-final 2: No. 4 Queen’s 1 vs. No. 5 UNB 5 (USPORTS.LIVE)

Friday, March 17, 2017

1:00pm Quarter-final 3: No. 3 York vs. No. 6 Saskatchewan (USPORTS.LIVE)

7:00pm Quarter-final 4: No. 2 StFX vs. No. 7 McGill (USPORTS.LIVE)

Saturday, March 18, 2017

12:00PM Semi-final 1:  Acadia vs. UNB (Sportsnet 360 / SN NOW)

4:00PM Semi-final 2: Winner QF 3 vs. Winner QF 4 (Sportsnet 360 / SN NOW)

Sunday, March 19, 2017

9:30AM Bronze (USPORTS.LIVE)

1:00PM Gold (Sportsnet 360 / SN NOW)

About U SPORTS

U SPORTS is the national brand for University Sports in Canada. Every year, over 12,000 student-athletes and 500 coaches from 56 universities vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. U SPORTS also provides higher performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit usports.ca or follow us on:

Twitter: @USPORTSca
Facebook: @USPORTSCanada
YouTube:  @USPORTSca 
Instagram: @USPORTSca
Snapchat: @USPORTSca

-U SPORTS –

For further information, please contact:

Ken Saint-Eloy
Manager, Communications
U SPORTS
Cell: 647-871-7595
ksainteloy@usports.ca 

Alan Hudes 
Coordinator, Communications
U SPORTS
Off: 905-508-3000 ext. 242
Cell: 647-991-5343
ahudes@usports.ca

2017 U SPORTS Cavendish Farms University Cup
Andy Campbell
University of New Brunswick
Off: 506-451-6894
Cell: 506-470-5578
andy.campbell@unb.ca