The #1 ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds have advanced to their 4th consecutive AUS Final thanks to a 6-2 victory over the Saint Mary's Huskies tonight in Halifax. After a pair of tense one goal games in Fredericton, UNB completes a sweep of the best 3-of-5 semi-final series with a convincing win and now await the winner of the St. FX/Acadia series.
- Matt Murphy (Boland, Anderson) scored the lone goal of the 1st period at 11:26 after stepping up in the neutral zone to intercept the puck, executing a give-and-go in the offensive zone, and driving down the left side before sliding the puck past Eric Brassard.
- The V-Reds busted the game wide open in the 2nd period, scoring four straight goals to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Finding the back of the net were Christopher Clapperton (Anderson) at 1:16, Kris Bennett (Willick) at 4:00, Dylan Willick (Bennett, Gazzola) at 8:02, and Clapperton (Gazzola, Murphy) again at 14:28. The Huskies finally stopped the onslaught with an Aaron Berisha power play goal at 16:19 to make it 5-1 after 40 minutes.
- The two teams traded power play goals late in the 3rd period with Tyler Boland (Anderson, Gazzola) restoring UNB's five goal cushion at 14:01 before Stephen Johnson rounded out the scoring at 18:10.
- Shots in the game were 25-23 for Saint Mary's. This marked a season-low in shots on goal for the V-Reds and they only managed 80 in the entire series, well below their regular season average of 39 per game. Furthermore, they have been held below 31 shots in 6 out of their last 7 games dating back to the regular season.
- Peter Trainor and Oliver Cooper were both out of the line-up.
- Alex Dubeau was once again solid in goal for UNB. Berisha's 2nd period goal snapped a 148:03 scoreless streak for Dubeau, dating back to Bradley Latour's shorthanded goal early in the 2nd period of game 1. It also ended a string of nine consecutive V-Reds goals in the series.
- The V-Reds went 1 for 6 on the power play. SMU was 1 for 8.
- Trey Lewis received a 5 minute major and game misconduct for contact to the head only 45 seconds after Murphy opened the scoring. Once again, the V-Reds penalty kill stepped up with a Kris Bennett shorthanded breakaway being the best chance by either team during the man advantage.
- As a result of the misconduct, we can expect to see Lewis suspended for at least the first game of the AUS Final.
- Face-offs were heavily in favour of UNB at 40-28. Dylan Willick led the way with 13 wins in 20 chances.
- This is the first time UNB have swept Saint Mary's in a best-of-5 series. They have swept them in a best-of-3 series in both 2003 and 2008.
- After losing 1-0 last night, St. FX got a late go-ahead power play goal to defeat Acadia 4-3 and knot their series at two game apiece. Game 5 will go Thursday night in Antigonish.
- While the V-Reds will await the winner of that game to see who they play in the best 2-of-3 AUS Final (schedule TBD), the Huskies will face the loser in a consolation series to determine the conference's third and final berth and the University Cup.
The first place University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds were well represented as the AUS announced the 2017-2018 men's hockey major award winners and all-stars earlier this week.
Defenceman Randy Gazzola was the big winner as he was the only player to take home a pair of major honours. The 4th year veteran claimed the Don Wells Trophy as the most sportsmanlike player as well as the coveted Godfrey Award, which recognizes both a player's on-ice and off-ice contributions. Gazzola was also named a second team all-star along with teammates Kris Bennett and Christopher Clapperton.
Varsity Reds leading scorer Kris Bennett was also recognized, being named the recipient of the A.J. MacAdam Trophy as the conference's top rookie. Bennett finished 2nd in the conference with 18 goals and 5th overall in points with 38 while also playing a key role on both special team's units. Bennett is joined on the all-rookie team with goaltender Rylan Parenteau.
All major award winners will now become the AUS nominee for the respective U Sports award, which will be presented at the University Cup Awards Gala on Wednesday, March 14th at the Richard J. Currie Center.
A Cameron Brace power play goal, 24 saves from Alex Dubeau, and a lights-out penalty kill fueled the #1 ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds to a 1-0 victory over the #4 Saint Mary's Huskies tonight at the AUC. UNB now has a 2-0 series lead in the best 3-of-5 semi-final.
- The V-Reds dominated the early going, out-shooting the Huskies 10-1 midway through the first period, but the Huskies weathered the storm and began to push back some during the latter half of the frame. UNB ultimately held a 12-5 advantage in shots on goal in a scoreless opening twenty minutes.
- A key story this game was the Varsity Reds penalty kill, and they were put to a massive test early in the 2nd period. Beginning at the 3:44 mark the V-Reds took four consecutive penalties over a a 4:16 span, leaving them shorthanded for 8 minutes out of a stretch of 8:25 of game time. Not only did UNB manage to kill them all off, they received their first power play of the game just 8 seconds after the last penalty expired and they took advantage. With what looked like another lackluster power play winding down, Cameron Brace (Boudens, LeBlanc) got time and space to carry the puck down the left side and let go a wrist shot along the ice that caught the inside of the far post for the game's first goal at the 14:00 mark. Despite scoring the loan goal in the period, the V-Reds were out-shot 12-7 in the frame.
- Alexandre Goulet had a gilt-edged chance to extend the lead in the 3rd period, but his attempt to navigate the puck between the Eric Brassards out-stretched skate and the post died on the goal line, leaving the game 1-0.
- The penalty kill was presented with one last challenge. After Mark Simpson's errant stick caught a Huskies player up high with 1:59 remaining, the Varsity Reds were forced to protect the slim lead with one of their top face-off men and penalty killers unavailable. The difficulty was further compounded when Saint Mary's gained control of the puck in the offensive zone, which allowed them to remove Brassard and make it a 6-on-4. However, the V-Reds penalty killers - and Dubeau - were once again up to the task and they fended off the Huskies last gasp to preserve a nail-biting victory. Shots in the period were 8-7 for UNB.
- Tristan Pomerleau was back in the line-up after serving an automatic one game suspension. Peter Trainor and Oliver Cooper were both out.
- Shots in the game were 27-24 for UNB.
- The V-Reds went 1 for 2 on the power play while killing off all 6 of Saint Mary's opportunities.
- Alex Dubeau was sensational in net as he earned his first career playoff shutout.
- After dominating in the face-off circle last night, the V-Reds struggled tonight in winning only 27 out of 62 face-offs.
- Dubeau, Brassard, and Brace were the three stars.
- This is the 5th straight one goal game between these two teams this year. UNB has won 4 of those.
- UNB's last playoff shutout was in 2016 when Etienne Marcoux blanked UPEI. It should be noted that they have two University Cup shut-outs since then - 4-0 against Saint Mary's in 2016 and 3-0 versus Acadia last year.
- 5 out of UNB's last 7 playoff/University Cup shut-outs have come against Saint Mary's.
- The St. FX X-Men evened their semi-final series against the Acadia Axemen with a 3-0 win tonight in Antigonish. The series will now shift to Wolfville for game 3 on Sunday night and game 4 on Monday night.
- The Varsity Reds will look to complete the sweep on Monday evening in Halifax. Game time is scheduled for 7PM.
Trailing 2-0 halfway through the opener of their best 3-of-5 semi-final, the #1 ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds turned to their unsung heroes to rally for a dramatic 3-2 overtime victory over the #4 Saint Mary's Huskies tonight at the AUC.
- The visitors scored the lone goal in an entertaining and back and forth opening twenty minutes when Anthony Repaci finished off a perfect 3-on-2 rush into the offensive zone, slapping a one-timer past Alex Dubeau.
- The Huskies doubled their lead 5:46 into the 2nd period. With the two teams skating 4-on-4 Bradley Latour got sprung for a short break and slid the puck between Dubeau's legs just as the UNB penalty expired for a shorthanded goal.
- The V-Reds comeback began at 11:21 when defenceman Marcus McIvor (Bennett, Dubeau) led a rush up the ice and curled towards the corner before throwing an innocent looking shot from a sharp angle towards the goal that somehow squeezed between Eric Brassard's arm and the post.
- It only took 12 seconds for UNB to tie the game. A hard shot off the end boards bounced out into the face-off circle to Brassard's right and Matt Boudens, chugging down the wing, stepped into the loose puck and hammered it into the net.
- After both teams skated through a scoreless 3rd period the game headed to overtime. The Varsity Reds controlled play in the extra session, taking all five shots on goal and coming close to ending the game on a handful of occasions. They finally broke through at the 7:30 mark on a somewhat similar play as their first goal, another one that Brassard would undoubtedly want back. Mark Simpson got around a defender at the blue line and broke down the right side. He put the puck on the net short side and, after appearing that Brassard it covered, it snuck just over the goal line to give UNB a 3-2 decision.
- Peter Trainor and Tristan Pomerleau were both out for the V-Reds.
- Shots in the game were 30-27 for UNB with period totals of 10-9, 10-11, 5-7, and 5-0.
- Both teams went 0 for 5 with the man advantage.
- Alex Dubeau picked up his first career playoff win. Among his 25 saves were a couple of ridiculous glove stops that prevented the game from getting out of reach.
- UNB dominated at the face-off dot, winning 44 out of 69 draws.
- Simpson, Dubeau, and Brassard were the game's three stars.
- This was UNB's first overtime playoff game since losing 2-1 to Saint Mary's in 2014. Their last overtime playoff win came a year earlier when they defeated the Huskies 1-0 in game 1 of the AUS Final on the strength of a Dion Campbell goal.
- Prior to tonight UNB had only played one overtime game at home all season - a 6-5 exhibition win over Ryerson on December 29th.
- This is Mark Simpson's 2nd career OT winner. He notched one shorthanded against St. FX last season.
- McIvor and Boudens only had one goal each during the regular season in a combined 53 games. Simpson had 7 in 26 games.
- In the other semi-final series, Acadia rallied from a pair of one goal deficits to get past St. FX 4-2 in Antigonish. Their series resumes tomorrow night.
- These two teams are back at it at the AUC tomorrow night for game 2. Game time is 7PM.
The #4 ranked Saint Mary's Huskies' 5-2 victory over the visiting #5 ranked UPEI Panthers last night in the 3rd and deciding game of their quarter-final series has set up a rematch from last year with the #1 ranked University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds. The best 3-of-5 semi final series is set to begin this Thursday night at the AUC.
- The Varsity Reds have won 11 out of 18 games including 8 out of 10 at the AUC. They are just 3-5 in games played at the Halifax Forum.
- Despite both programs featuring high powered offenses during most of those years, there have only been 81 combined goals scored in the 18 games. UNB have scored 47 times (or 2.6 per game) and the Huskies 34 times (1.9 per game).
- The two teams met five times in the regular season with the V-Reds taking four of them. They won 4-2 in Halifax on October 21st and 5-1 at home a week later before the Huskies clawed out a 5-4 shootout win on December 1st. UNB took a pair of one goal games after Christmas - 3-2 at the AUC on January 19th and a 5-4 road decision on February 2nd.
- In another rematch from last year, the #2 St. FX X-Men battle the #3 Acadia Axemen in the other semi-final series. It will follow the same schedule as the UNB/SMU series with St. FX hosting games 1, 2 and 5 (if necessary).
2-of-3 consolation series for the 3rd and final berth.
- The OUA also has three berths while Canada West will have two representatives.
- Prediction time. Who do you got?
Who wins the best 3-of-5 semi-final?
As conference playoffs get underway across the country beginning tonight - culminating with the University Cup, which begins a month from tomorrow - U Sports has released its latest men's hockey top ten rankings and the Varsity Reds have jumped back on top.
A perfect 2-0-0 weekend, including a 1st place-clinching victory over #3 ranked St. FX, allowed UNB to swap places with #2 Alberta. The V-Reds gained 10 first place votes and 145 points overall compared to Alberta's 5 and 140, respectively.
St. FX (106) just nudged out McGill (105) for 3rd spot with Saskatchewan (100) not too far behind.
The rest of the top ten includes Guelph (68), Saint Mary's (49), Acadia (45), Queen's (27), and UBC (16), who make their first appearance in the rankings since November 2015.