(FREDERICTON, N.B.) - They may have been teammates in Italy but it was clear that everyone was back on their own teams Friday night as UNB and UPEI faced off at the Aitken Centre and the Varsity Reds ultimately picked up a 4-2 win.
At the puck drop opening ceremony, UNB paid tribute to the student-athletes and coaches that went to the FISU Winter Universiade in Italy this past December. The men's hockey team, comprised entirely of student-athletes from the AUS conference, won the gold medal for Canada.
The Panthers, on the power-play, were quick off the mark as Dana Fraser put one past UNB's Charlie Lavigne just 6:57 into the first period. Tyler Brown and Reggie Traccitto were credited with the assists.
UNB answered less than two minutes later on their own power-play on a shot from the point by rookie Jordan Murray assisted by Chris Culligan and Philippe Maillet.
At the close of the first period, the score was 1-1.
Lavigne faced 14 shots while the Panthers' Mavric Parks faced eight.
As the second period got underway, the more than 2,000 fans saw some rough stuff by both teams. It was definitely a night for the special teams.
UNB had some chances mid-way through the second period as UPEI took the third, fourth and fifth penalties of the game. The Panthers were relentless in their forechecking, but finally a golden opportunity came for UNB with a 5-on-3 advantage and once again Murray swept in to score his second goal of the game at 9:59. Maillet and Culligan were credited with the assists.
With a little over a minute left on the clock, the Panthers managed to tie it up as Fraser snapped one from the point for his second goal of the night with assists coming from Harrison McIver and Reggie Traccitto.
Shots on goal at the end of the second were even at 22 with six penalties to UPEI and five to UNB.
Just four minutes into the third period, UNB scored short-handed when Mike Thomas took a pass from Nick MacNeil and blasted a shot from the point just inside the cross bar to make it 3-2.
At the 17:54 mark, UPEI's Alex Wall was assessed two minutes for holding and UNB took full advantage. Newcomer Philippe Halley scored with assists from Cam Braes and Keevin Cutting. It was UNB's third power-play goal of the night, bringing the score to 4-2.
UNB bench boss Gardiner MacDougall thought that special teams were the difference maker this night.
"A huge win for the group," he said. "After the weekend you find ways to improve. We wanted to improve our power play, that was key. A couple of goals by Jordan, but the whole unit played much better and was the difference maker for us."
"Our penalty kill's been our strength all year and we had some huge kills in the third," he added. "Find timely goals. We had some big saves from our goaltender. All the little ingredients that are important to a big victory for our group."
UPEI had 11 shots in the third to UNB's nine. Shots on goal for the night were 33 for the Panthers and 31 for the Varsity Reds.
The Varsity Reds are on the road tomorrow as they take on Moncton at 7 p.m. at the J.-Louis-Lévesque arena in Moncton. The game will be also be broadcast live via webcast on www.AUStv.ca.
Source: Maureen Sparks for UNB Sports Iinformation