Huskies open season with 4-3 win over Axemen
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Mary's (1-0-0, 1-0-0) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
|
Acadia (0-1-0, 0-1-0) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
WOLFVILLE, N.S. — Saint Mary's forward Reid Valade scored two goals, and goaltender Ben West stopped 34 shots, leading the Huskies to a 4-3 win over the Acadia Axemen in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action on Wednesday night at Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville, N.S.
The teams traded chances early before Saint Mary's struck first. Jake Uberti (Toronto, ON) opened the scoring at 10:06 of the first period, finishing a feed from Ben Boyd (Dartmouth, NS).
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) October 2, 2025
Ben Boyd's relentless forecheck leads to Jake Uberti scoring the first goal of the @AUS_SUA regular season, putting the Huskies ahead 1-0!
��J. Uberti (1)
��B. Boyd pic.twitter.com/GFK1vmUPi4
Acadia answered quickly. Just 10 seconds later, Brendan Mairs converted a pass from Ryder McIntyre to tie the game 1–1.
The Axemen grabbed their first lead at 11:15 when Corson Hopwo scored off a setup from Luke Zazula. But a late penalty proved costly. With Acadia shorthanded, Reid Valade (Caledon, ON) scored on the power play at 18:57 to make it 2–2 after the opening frame.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) October 2, 2025
It's the first game of the season but the Huskies powerplay is already firing on all cylinders as Reid Valade ties it up at 2-2 late in the first period.
��R. Valade (1)
��J. Holmes
��E. Ritchie pic.twitter.com/iBZ1wwtaed
The Huskies regained control late in the second period. Valade netted his second of the night at 19:00, putting Saint Mary's back in front 3–2 heading into the intermission.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) October 2, 2025
Reid Valade blocks a shot and heads the other way on a breakaway, scoring his second goal of the night to put the Huskies ahead 3-2!
��R. Valade (2) pic.twitter.com/Nu6GwBewQs
Early in the third, Will Chisholm (Lunenburg, NS) extended the lead to 4–2 with help from Boyd and Uberti.
HUSKIES HIGHLIGHTS ��
— Saint Mary's Huskies (@SMUHuskies) October 2, 2025
Will Chisholm cleans up the rebound from Jake Uberti's shot and the Huskies take a 4-2 lead in the third period!
��W. Chisholm (1)
��B. Boyd
��J. Uberti pic.twitter.com/GuFiSQymSc
Acadia pressed in the final minutes and was rewarded on the power play. With 6.2 seconds left, Kian Bell scored from Brayden Schmitt and Liam Kidney to cut the deficit to one. The Axemen, however, ran out of time to complete the comeback.
Acadia outshot Saint Mary's 37–36 but went 1-for-6 on the power play compared to the Huskies' 1-for-4. Goaltender Thomas Couture made 32 saves for the Axemen, while Ben West stopped 34 shots for Saint Mary's.
The three stars were Valade, West, and Hopwo.
Both the Axemen (0-1-0) and Huskies (1-0-0) will be back in action this weekend against the Moncton Aigles Bleus, with the Huskies hosting the Aigles Bleus on Saturday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. at the Dauphinee Centre, as part of the Saint Mary's Homecoming celebration. GET TICKETS
