As the AUS men's hockey schedule takes a break for the holidays, the UPEI Panthers skated to their third-straight win over the weekend, including a 3-1 victory over the UNB Reds, snapping their nine-game winning streak.
The Panthers kicked off the week with a win over the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus Wednesday night, doubling the Aigles Bleus 4-2. UPEI goals came from Troy Lajeunesse, Kyle Maksimovich, Jesse Surron and TJ Shea (EN), with Gabriel Vanier and Maxime Boudreau (PP) finding the back of the net for Moncton in the loss.
In Saturday night's 3-1 victory over the Reds, rookie Goaltender Jonah Capriotti continued to shine between the pipes, where he made 30 saves for his eighth win of the season. Troy Lajeunesse led all scorers with three assists, while Drake Pilon, Carson MacKinnon and Filip Rydstrom each found the back of the net for UPEI. Nicolas Guay scored the lone goal for the Reds.
Despite their loss to the Panthers Saturday, the Reds split their weekend games, edging the Aigles Bleus 3-1 Friday evening. Thomas Casey, Nicolas Guay and Mark Rassell all recorded tallies in the win, with Michael Cyr putting Moncton on the board in the loss.
The Dalhousie Tigers earned a weekend sweep, allowing them to move into third place in the AUS men's hockey standings. They first doubled the Acadia Axemen 4-2 Wednesday night. Dalhousie's Reilly Pickard had 38 saves and was named the Subway Player of the Game, while goals in the game came from Dalhousie's Derek Gentile, Darien Kielb (SH), Jarett Baker and Shaun Miller, with Adam McMaster scoring twice for Acadia.
The Tigers then earned a 6-5 shootout victory over the Huskies Friday night. Dalhousie won the shootout with two goals from Connor Welsh and Darien Kielb. Notable Tigers performances came from the seven-goal scorers. With Kielb getting awarded Subway Player of the Game honours. Dawson Theede had a goal and assist to lead the Huskies.
The StFX X-Men earned a victory this weekend, first edging the Saint Mary's Huskies 8-6. X-Men forward Matthew Struthers was named Subway Player of the Game with a pair of goals, while teammate Liam Hawel had a four-point night with one goal and three assists. Other X-Men goals came from Josh Nelson (PP), Roddie Sandilands, Declan Smith and Matthew Philip. Brett Neumann (2), Jonathan Hampton, Mitchell Balmas, Cedric Ralph and Nathan Dunkley found the back of the net for Saint Mary's.
Scores and recaps:
Wednesday, Dec. 1
Acadia 2 at Dalhousie 4
UPEI 4 at Moncton 2
StFX 8 at Saint Mary's 6
Friday, Dec. 3
Moncton 1 at UNB 3
Saint Mary's 5 at Dalhousie 6 (SO)
Saturday, Dec. 4
UNB 1 at UPEI 3
Current standings:
- UNB Reds (16-2-0) - 32 points
- StFX X-Men (12-5-1) - 25 points
- Dalhousie Tigers (9-8-1) - 19 points
- UPEI Panthers (8-7-2-1) - 19 points
- Saint Mary's Huskies (7-9-1-1) - 16 points
- Acadia Axemen (6-12-0) - 12 points
- Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (5-12-1) - 11 points