Panthers eliminate Acadia in overtime thriller

By Thomas Becker

Photo credit to Janessa Hogan

The UPEI Panthers completed the upset bid and are headed to the semifinals after defeating the Acadia Axemen 4-3 in overtime Friday night.

Marcus Power's heroics brought 1,200 cheering fans to their feet after netting the game-winning goal five minutes into the extra frame.

"It was crazy, I just turned around and everyone was going nuts," said Power. "It was probably the biggest goal in my life."

After surrendering a two-goal lead early in the third period, the resilient Panthers stuck with their game plan and battled back for the win.

"It was a short series but a lot had happened. We had already played with a lead, we had already played tied and we had already played from behind," said Panthers head coach Forbes MacPherson. "Whatever it was, we were comfortable with our game and we were confident."

The Panthers, who came into the series struggling to score, made every shift count and outscored the Axemen 10-6 in two games of the best-of-three series.

"It was a challenge these last couple of weeks, but I think we showed a lot of life in this series."

Game 2 saw both teams come out of the gate aggressive and physical, but Acadia had the first opportunity to get on scoreboard. A Panthers blocked shot led to an Axemen odd-man rush, but Mavric Parks denied the threat to keep the game scoreless.

Acadia continued their strong push and eventually broke through. After Parks made the initial save on an Axeman shot, forward Chance Braid poked away at the puck until it crossed the goal line, giving them a 1-0 edge.

Three minutes later, Power found Brent Andrews who went five hole past Acadia netminder Brandon Glover, tying the game at one apiece.

With under a minute remaining in the first, Sam Aulie put the Panthers ahead 2-1 with a top-shelf goal for his first of the series.

Five minutes into the second, Acadia's Taylor Makin was called for the hooking penalty and the Panthers made them pay. Ryan MacKinnon skated free from a defender and sniped the clear-look shot past Glover, doubling their lead 3-1.

But the Axemen refused to go down. At 11:05, Acadia's Brett Cote took a feed from Remy Giftopoulos in the slot and wristed it past Parks to make it 3-2.

Acadia continued to put pressure on the Panthers' defence early in the third period and the results followed. In a strong indivual effort, Kyle Farrell weaved his way past the defence and notched his first goal of the series, evening the score at three apiece.

Each team had an opportunity to pull ahead on the power play late in the period but couldn't capitalize, forcing the game into overtime.

In overtime, MacKinnon launched a shot off Glover's pad to Power, who buried the rebound for the 4-3 win.

With the series win, the Panthers will play the top-ranked UNB Varsity Reds in the best-of-five semifinals.