Welsh records another shutout as #4 ranked Huskies defeat Acadia 4-0
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Acadia (2-2-0-0, 2-2-0-0) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Saint Mary's (4-0-0, 4-0-0) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
The Saint Mary's Huskies kept their perfect record alive with a 4-0 victory over the Acadia Axemen Wednesday night at the Dauphinee Centre.
U SPORTS released their latest rankings on Tuesday which saw the Huskies punch their way into the top ten at #4 in the country. SMU came out of the gates with confidence, but the visiting Axemen were up to the task bringing a physical style of play to counter.
The first good chance off the game came seven minutes into the frame when the Huskies worked the puck across the offensive zone with the shot from Sam King (Hampton, NB) ringing off the post.
Saint Mary's took back-to-back penalties which gave Acadia 27 seconds of 5-on-3. They were unable to capitalize and as the Huskies got back to even strength Nathan Dunkley (Campbellford, ON) came off the bench, collected the puck in the neutral zone, carried it across the blue line and using the defender as a screen, fired a wrist shot past Conor McCollum (Pickering, ON) to open the scoring.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ����
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) October 20, 2022
Nathan Dunkley snipes a goal as the Huskies penalty expires to put @SMUMensHockey up 1-0.
��N. Dunkley (2)
��W. Flower III pic.twitter.com/igyZEhqHB8
Acadia took a penalty eight seconds after the goal and SMU almost extended their lead. A quick shot from Andrew Coxhead (Bedford, NS) in the slot was saved by McCollum and Bradey Johnson's (Lindsay, ON) second chance opportunity was also thwarted by the third-year goalie.
Shots were 9-9 at the first intermission.
Saint Mary's was unable to score on an early powerplay in the second period but just minutes later Joel Bishop (St. John's, NL) was tripped up on a breakaway which awarded him a penalty shot. On the attempt he skated in slow and tried to slide the puck five hole, but McCollum made a stick save.
It wouldn't take long though for the Huskies to get another chance. The Axemen got caught on a bad change which resulted in a 3-on-2 rush for SMU. Cedric Ralph (Peterborough, ON) fed a pass to Keith Getson (Bridgewater, NS) who snapped a shot underneath the arm of McCollum to extend the lead to 2-0.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ����
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) October 20, 2022
A beautiful backhand pass by Cedric Ralph on the tape of Captain Keith Getson who makes no mistake, giving @SMUMensHockey a 2-0 lead.
��K. Getson (2)
��C. Ralph
��S. King pic.twitter.com/raOjznMf16
Acadia had a chance to get back in the game when an unsuccessful but dangerous powerplay that turned into five straight minutes of offensive zone time without a whistle. The best chance came on a spin-o-rama pass from Nicholas Poot (Georgetown, ON) to Merrick Rippon (Otawa, ON) who launched a shot off Matthew Welsh's (Halifax, NS) mask. Seconds later Cole Rafuse (Kingston, ON) just narrowly missed the open net on a back hand try. The Axemen dominated play for the five-minute stretch and fired eight shots on goal during that time but were unable to beat Welsh.
Minutes later Reilly Webb (Stoney Creek, ON) got a two-minute minor and 10-minute misconduct for hitting from behind putting the Huskies on the powerplay. During the man advantage Dawson Theede (Brooklin, ON) slid a pass into the slot for a wide-open Coxhead who fired the shot off the post and in to give SMU the 3-0 lead.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ����
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) October 20, 2022
Andrew Coxhead scores his fourth of the season on the powerplay to put @SMUMensHockey up 3-0.
��A. Coxhead (4)
��D. Theede
��J. MacPherson pic.twitter.com/7S7kFHDAQK
Acadia led in shots 25-19 after 40 minutes of play.
Just three and a half minutes into the final period the home side would add another tally. This time it was Charlie Dafonseca (Thornhill, ON) who, off a SMU clearing attempt, beat the Acadia defender in a race to the puck then went in on a partial break before flipping the puck over McCollum's shoulder for the first year forward's third goal of the season.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ����
— SMU Huskies (@SMUHuskies) October 20, 2022
First year forward Charlie Dafonseca with a nice finish on the breakaway to extend the @SMUMensHockey lead to 4-0.
��C. Dafonseca (3)
��D. Theede
��S. Dunn pic.twitter.com/RDUnH8QDBL
Liam Kidney (Enfield, NS) had a great chance to answer for Acadia when he went in a breakaway of his own but snapped the shot wide of the net. The Axemen got another late 2-on-1 chance but it resulted in another pad save by Welsh off the shot by Kidney.
Saint Mary's held on for the 4-0 victory. Welsh made 28 saves for his 2nd shutout of the year and earned AUS Player of the Game honours.
With the loss the Axemen record drops to 2-2 on the season. Acadia's next test comes on Saturday when they host the UPEI Panthers in Wolfville.
The Huskies win improved their record to 4-0 on the season, with an impressive +14 goal differential. Saint Mary's will travel to Charlottetown on Friday to take on the Panthers. Puck drop is 7 p.m.
Recap by Troy Langstaff / SMU Huskies Athletics
Photos by Mona Ghiz / SMU Huskies Athletics
