Game recap by Kirk Jessome
(Halifax, NS) – On a freezing cold Friday night, the Dalhousie Tigers hosted the Acadia Axemen at Wickwire field. The Axemen picked up an early goal in the first half, and that was enough to get them the win with a final score of 4-0.
The Axemen pressured up in the Tigers end early, forcing a corner kick in the 13th minute taken by Tylor Connolly (Quispamsis, NB) that sailed past the far post, was deflected in front and ended up in the back of the net off of a Tigers defender for an own-goal to open up the scoring.
Another cross from Connolly midway through the half ended up on the head of Travis Fenning (Ottawa, ON) at the near post. He was too tight to the line however as the header was directed straight into the post and Ben Grondin (Calgary, AB) was able to recover to make the stop.
The Tigers generated a few scrambles in the box off of some corner kicks late in the half, but nothing was able to go toward goal.
At the end of the half, there was just the lone goal as the Axemen led 1-0.
The Tigers were first on the attack in the half, but the Axemen immediately countered on an attack of their own.
After collecting a cleared ball, Fenning spotted Gordon McLaughlin (Peterborough, ON) making a perfect run down the left side line and picked him out. McLaughlin was all alone heading into the box, and had plenty of time to tuck a chip into the far side post to put the Axemen up 2-0.
The Axemen scored their third goal of the night off a seeming innocent ball that took a tough bounce in front of the box that was mishandled, and ended up on the foot of McLaughlin once again with no one around to stop him from tapping it in.
The Tigers seemed to have no answer in the match, and the Axemen picked up another goal in the 80th minute after Grondin could make the initial stop off the foot of McLaughlin, but Niall Burnett (Charlottetown, PEI) was in the box to hammer home the rebound.
A chippy final few minutes ticked down, and Acadia was able to walk away with a 4-0 victory.
The Subway Player of the Game for this one was Gordon McLaughlin, picking up two goals in the contest.
The Tigers will be back on the pitch on Sunday for their final home game, and Senior Day when they take on UPEI. The Axemen will also face UPEI in their next game on when they travel to play them on Saturday.