No. 8 Huskies defeat No. 4 Axemen 9-2 to advance to AUS final

Andrew Hotham's six point night leads SMU

AUS Communications

March 3, 2010

March 3, 2010 (HALIFAX, NS) - The CIS No. 8 ranked Saint Mary's Huskies will have the opportunity to defend their AUS championship title after defeating the No. 4 ranked Acadia Axemen 9-2 in front of 3,228 fans Wednesday night at the Halifax Forum to win their best three-of-five semifinal series 3-1.
Saint Mary's, now 5-1 in the playoffs, were led by third year defenseman and Subway Player of the Game Andrew Hotham (Barie, ON), who scored four goals in the win and added a pair of assists for a career-high six-point night.
Justin Munden (Halifax, NS) and Colby Pridham (Alberton, PE) each had a two-goal night with Cody Thornton (Woodstock, ON) adding four assists in the game and reigning CIS Player of the Year Marc Rancourt (Gloucester, ON) chipping in with three helpers.
The Axemen, who also lost in last year's semifinal round, to the UNB Varsity Reds, opened the scoring just 3:54 into the opening period as Tyler Whitehead scored his first of the playoffs on a tip-in following a Zack McMillan shot from the point to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead.
The Huskies then rattled off four straight power-play goals, led by Hotham's second and third of the post-season just 1:54 apart. Pridham and Munden each scored before the end of the opening frame to give the Huskies a 4-1 margin after 20 minutes. Hotham, a second team CIS all-Canadian last season, assisted on both goals for a four-point period.
SMU was 4-for-4 in the period with the man advantage and outshot Acadia 13-6.
Saint Mary's scored their first even strength power-play goal midway through the second period as Hotham netted his third goal and fifth point of the night. SMU goalie Neil Conway (Concord, OH) picked up an assist on the play and Acadia's Kristofer Westblom (Meadow Lake, SK) left the game after the goal with an injury and did not return.
Munden promptly added his second of the night less than two minutes later, beating replacement goalie Michael Chiasson (Cole Harbour, NS) to give the Huskies a commanding 6-1 lead. Acadia's Nathan Welton (Dartmouth, NS) rounded out the second period scoring at the 13:06 mark when his shot from the point found the back of the net. Scott Tregunna (Mt. Forest, ON) and Whitehead assisted on the goal, the Axemen's last of the night.
Pridham extiguished any thoughts of a third period comeback, scoring his second of the game just 40 seconds into the final frame to give the defending AUS champions a 7-2 lead. Hotham added his fourth of the evening on the power-play at the 2:49 mark and forward Patrick O'Keefe (Mt. Pearl, NL) added a short-handed marker with four seconds remaining to round out the scoring.
Saint Mary's outshot Acadia 33-25 and finished 5-for-7 on the power-play while the Axemen went 0-for-3 with the extra attacker.
Conway improved to 5-1 in the post-season with the victory and Westblom took the loss to drop to 1-3.
Saint Mary's, seeded third, advances to their third consecutive AUS Championship Final and will have home-ice advantage against the fifth-seeded StFX X-Men. The AUS championship is a best three-of-five series and will likely begin next week.