(FREDERICTON, N.B.) The UNB REDS scored three times in the first period on route a 5-3 win over the Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus in Game 1 of their best-of-three final series of the Bell AUS Men's Hockey Championship, Sunday evening at UNB's Aitken Centre.
Cole MacKay (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) and Benjamin Corbeil (Granby, QC) each had a goal and an assist to lead the REDS. Corbeil was named the Tim Horton's Player of the Game.
Working on an early power-play, the REDS opened the scoring at the 5:06 mark of the first period when MacKay fired a bullet past Moncton netminder Nathan Darveau (Rouyn-Noranda, QC).
Sean McGurn (Ottawa, ON) and Corbeil also scored as the REDS took a 3-0 lead to the first intermission.
In the second period, Emmett Sproule (Collingwood, ON) pushed UNB's lead to 4-0 on a goal less than four minutes in and it was a goal that proved crucial.
Moncton trimmed the UNB lead to 4-2 before the end of the period on goals by Nathael Roy (Levis, QC) and Jeremy Lapointe (Drummondville, QC).
Moncton made it a 4-3 game at 5:05 of the third period on a goal by Jonathan Desrosiers (Dieppe, NB), but that's as close as the visitors would get.
Macauley Carson (Midhurst, ON) scored into an empty Moncton net with less than a minute to play to make the final 5-3.
Peter Reynolds (Fredericton, NB), Cody Morgan (Gilford, ON), and Kale McCallum (Rothesay, NB) all had two assists for UNB and Samuel Richard (Ste. Catherine, QC) made 17 saves on 20 shots.
Darveau gave up four goals on 42 shots.
UNB outshot Moncton 43-20 and now lead the best of three series 1-0.
Moncton will host game two of the series on Tuesday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.
If necessary, UNB would host game three on Thursday at 7 p.m.
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics