Huskies axe Acadia, prepare for Wolves
By Darren Zary
of The StarPhoenix
Huskies 5, Axemen 1
EDMONTON — Acadia Axemen goalie John Ceci found himself sitting on an active volcano here Thursday in the opening game of the Telus University Cup national championship tournament.
Ceci did his best to stem the flow — getting doused with plenty of heat and 32 shots through the first 50 minutes — before the volcano finally erupted.
The University of Saskatchewan Huskies lit up the lava lamp four times during a span of 7:45 on their way to a 5-1 victory over No. 2-seed Acadia before 1,289 fans at Clare Drake Arena.
“They took it to us for pretty much the whole game,” said Axemen forward Andrew Bergen. “We had a hard time getting anything going. Ceci played good for us but we were unable to generate any chances ourselves.”
No. 5-seeded Saskatchewan, runner-up a year ago, finds itself just one win away from a repeat appearance in the national final Sunday (8 p.m. Sask. time) at Rexall Place. The Huskies will meet the Ontario/ Quebec champion Lakehead Thunderwolves on Saturday afternoon (Noon Sask. time) at Clare Drake Arena to decide Sunday’s finalist.
Jeff Schmidt, Brent Twordik, Colin Johnson, Dean Beuker and Matt Girling each scored for Saskatchewan, which outshot Acadia 39-19 yet led only 1-0 going into the third period.
“That is the best I’ve seen our team play, to be honest,” said U of S goalie Jeff Harvey, who made 18 saves for the win. “The defence was unbelievable out there — hats off to them — and the forwards came back with the best back (check) pressure we’ve ever had. That really limited their opportunities.
“Their goaltender kept them in right until the end of the game, but, if you’re persistent enough and throw that many pucks on net, eventually you’re going to find chances to score.”
The Dogs got on the scoreboard at 4:03 of the first period with a power-play goal by Schmidt, who finished off a backdoor play. Acadia didn’t answer back until early in the third after Huskies D-man Dean Serdachny fanned on a clearing attempt, turning the puck over to the Axemen. Blair Jarrett pounced on a loose puck in the goal-crease at 2:22 to knot the score at 1-1.
“The turning point,” said Saskatchewan player of the game Brent Twordik, who would notch the game-winner seven minutes later.
“That gave us a kick in the butt. We seemed to turn it up and take it from there. I’m proud of the guys. They stuck with the program and really showed what we got out there.”
Earlier in the game, Acadia lost all-star defenceman Kane Ludwar. His checking-from-behind major and game misconduct put the Axemen, already down 1-0, in a bigger hole.
If that wasn’t bad enough, the Axemen later lost CIS MVP forward Kevin Baker and forward Josh Dill to injury in the second frame. Baker — who was taken out by Serdachny into the boards in front of the Huskies’ bench — had been virtually invisible up until then. He failed to register a shot on net.
“They’re a very physical hockey team,” assessed Acadia head coach Darren Burns. “We lost a couple of guys who bring a lot to the table for us. There’s no question when you lose your top scorer and MVP, it’s certainly going to have an impact on your hockey team.
“They (Huskies) deserved what they got today. I was impressed with the way they played and how physical they were. They took a lot of time and space away from us.”
Despite dominating the play, the Huskies had little to show for until the third.
“We stuck together,” added Johnson, whose one-timer on a back-door pass made it 3-1 with 6:10 remaining. “They had come back on us and we stayed with it. We just kept going with what we had. We stayed with the game plan and it (the puck) finally started going in, for a change.”
Added Beuker, Canada West MVP: “When you get that many pucks on the net, something’s going to go in. We did a great job getting the puck on net. We worked down low and created a lot of stuff. We were real physical. Our back end was real fantastic. A couple of their guys weren’t ready for that physical play and it showed a little bit.” Saskatchewan was 3-for-7 on the power play. Acadia was 0-for-4. “They came out hard and out-muscled us for most of the game,” admitted Acadia’s Tyler Reid. “We lost a few key guys who play lots of key minutes, so other guys needed to step up. We did what we could but we came up short.”
dzary@sp.canwest.com
