UNB defeats Tigers 3-1

By Taylor Martin

(Halifax, N.S.) – In Friday night men's hockey action, the UNB Reds defeated the Tigers 3-1 at the Halifax Forum. 

Dalhousie started off strong with a steal from the starting faceoff by Jonathan Cyr (Ottawa, ON), and a shot on net. The shot was stopped by the UNB Reds goaltender Alex Dubeau (Mascouche, QC). The Tigers continues to push past the Reds defenders for some great shot opportunities. 

After much back and forth, Dalhousie had its first big chance as the defence cleared it out to Kelly Bent (Halifax, NS) at centre ice. Bent carried it down to the Reds zone, dodged through the lone defender and shot but was stonewalled by Dubeau.

 Randy Gazzola (Thorold, ON) cut off a Dalhousie pass across centre ice and sent it back into the Tigers zone to Cameron Brace (Etobicoke, ON). Brace made a quick pass to Mark Rassell (Los Angeles, CA) but couldn't get past Tigers goalie Connor Hicks (Kanata, ON). 

Halfway through the period, the Reds found their way past Hicks with a goal by Mark Simpson (Rothesay, NB) after a shot from the point by Joe Gatenby (Kelowna, BC) went wide and straight to Simpson at the corner who deflected it into the net. 

Reds led 1-0 heading into the second period. 

After intense zone-to-zone play in the first half of the second, a missed puck had the Tigers headed down to the Reds zone with Cyr first to the puck looking for a teammate Evan Scott (Montreal, QC) who came rushing into the zone to receive the pass and scored from the top of the circle to tie it up. 

The Reds came back with a number of close shots, but Hicks stood is ground, keeping UNB's shooters at bay, leaving the game tied at 1-1 heading into the second intermission. 

Keeping that same intensity in the third period and putting the pressure on the Dalhousie defensive line, Matthew Boucher (Los Angeles, CA) fought hard at the net during a scramble and found the back of the Tigers net. 

Late in the third, the Tigers struggled to hold possession in the Reds zone and pulled Hicks in an attempt to overpower the Reds. UNB got possession of the faceoff in their end and Stephen Anderson (Morell, PE) sent the puck into the empty net to make it a 3-1 win for the Reds. 

Connor Hicks was named the Subway Player of the Game with an outstanding 62 saves. 

UNB heads to Antigonish to take on the X-Men tomorrow night while Dalhousie will play host to the UPEI Panthers. Both games are at 7:00 p.m.