In the final week of the first half of men's hockey action, the UNB Reds extended their win streak to 18, while the Saint Mary's Huskies earned their fourth straight win.
Austen Keating scored three goals and added an assist as the Reds held off a late push by the StFX X-Men for a 5-3 win Friday night in Antigonish. Keating was named the game's first star for his efforts, while Emmett Sproule had both of the Reds' other goals in the win. Matthew Struthers (PP), Matthew Philip and Josh Nelson found the back of the net for the X-Men, while Samuel Richard made 24 saves for UNB in the win.
After falling behind 2-0 early in the first period, the Reds scored nine unanswered goals en route to a 9-2 win over the Dalhousie Tigers on Saturday night. Eight different UNB skaters scored in a balanced and relentless push by the U SPORTS No. 1 ranked Reds. Goals in the win came from Justin Nolet, Brady Gilmour, Isaac Nurse, Austen Keating (PP), Macauley Carson, Cole MacKay (2), Benjamin Corbeil and Kale McCallum, while Ethan Martini and Derek Gentile recorded goals for the home team.
Saint Mary's captain Andrew Coxhead scored his second overtime-winning goal in less than a week, as the Huskies defeated the UPEI Panthers 3-2 in a thrilling game on Wednesday night in Halifax. Goals in regulation came from Saint Mary's Thomas Casey and Declan McDonnell, while Landon Clow and Leon Denny found the back of the net for the Panthers. Jeremy Helvig made 22 saves for the Huskies in the win, with Jonah Capriotti stopping 37 shots for the Panthers.
Saint Mary's goaltender Matt Welsh stopped 29 saves for the shutout, and forward Bradey Johnson scored the shootout-winning goal, as the Huskies defeated the Acadia Axemen 1-0 for their fourth straight win on Friday night. Acadia's Thomas Couture made 29 saves in the loss.
The Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus picked up four points this week, allowing them to move into second in the standings. The Aigles Bleus earned a convincing 5-2 win over the StFX X-Men on Wednesday night. Jeremy Lapointe, Edouard St-Laurent, Samuel Guilbault, Olivier-Luc Hache (SH) and Nathael Roy all found the back of the net in the win. StFX goals came from Declan Smith and Matthew Struthers (PP, while Olivier Adam made 35 saves for Moncton in the victory, and Joseph Raaymakers also made 35 on the StFX side.
The Aigles Bleus then downed the Tigers 5-2 on Friday night in Halifax. Olivier-Luc Hache scored twice, while teammates Edouard St-Laurent, Denis Toner (PP) and Alexandre Couture also recorded tallies in the win. Dalhousie's goals came from Jackson van de Leest and Joseph Serpa (PP), while Olivier Adam made 33 stops for the visitors.
The Panthers closed out the first half of the season with a 4-0 shutout win over the Axemen. Elias Cohen, Kurtis Henry (PP), Noah Sedore and Kaleb Pearson (PP) all recorded tallies, while Joe Ranger made 28 saves in net for the shutout.
Scores:
Wednesday, November 29
UPEI 2 at Saint Mary's 3 (OT)
Moncton 5 at StFX 2
Friday, December 1
Moncton 5 at Dalhousie 2
UNB 5 at StFX 3
Saint Mary's 1 at Acadia 0 (SO)
Saturday, December 2
Acadia 0 at UPEI 4
UNB 9 at Dalhousie 2
Standings
1. UNB Reds (18-0-0)
2. Université de Moncton Aigles Bleus (10-6-2)
3. StFX X-Men (10-7-1)
4. Saint Mary's Huskies (10-8-0)
5. UPEI Panthers (7-10-1)
6. Acadia Axemen (4-11-3)
7. Dalhousie Tigers (4-12-2)