Reds outlast Panthers in 1-0 win

By Thomas Becker

Jason Willms' (Kitchener, ON) goal late in the second period was all the scoring the UNB Reds needed in Saturday night's victory over the UPEI Panthers. 

At 18:06, Brady Gilmour (Grafton, ON) took a loose puck from the neutral zone and dropped it off for Austen Keating (Guelph, ON), who found Willms (UNB's Player of the Game) barrelling down the slot, where he wired a wrist shot by rookie netminder Joe Ranger (Carp, ON).

After Friday's scoring barrage against the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus in which they scored eight times, the Reds (2-0) proved Saturday they can win in different ways. They held the Panthers (1-1) to just 17 shots behind a strong defensive effort, as they captured their second straight shutout, with goalie Griffen Outhouse (Williams Lake, BC) earning the clean sheet. 

UPEI had the best scoring chance a little over three minutes in the game when Kurtis Henry (Garden River First Nations, ON) found Kaleb Pearson (St. Marys, ON) leaking behind the defence for the breakaway, but his backhand attempt was denied by Outhouse, who made the athletic kick save.

Both teams flexed their defensive muscles in the first 20 minutes, as the period yielded just 10 shots overall.

UNB started putting pressure on the Panthers six minutes into the second period and almost scored on a clear shot attempt, but rookie defender Cameron Morton (Kingston, ON) sacrificed his body to make a game-saving block.

However, the defending U SPORTS champions would finally break through on Willms' game-winning goal at 18:06.

Ranger, who was named UPEI's Player of the Game, gave his team a chance in the third and kept it at a one-score game, but the offence couldn't solve Outhouse in the end. Ranger finished with 31 saves in his Atlantic University Sport (AUS) debut. 

The Panthers will face another tough test in the Saint Mary's Huskies on October 11 at 7 p.m., while the Reds return home to take on the Dalhousie Tigers Friday night.

Photo Credit: Janessa Vanden Broek