REDS beat Tigers 9-2

Written by Sam Goldstein

The UNB REDS remained undefeated with a 9-2 win over the Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax on Friday.

Dalhousie freshman Giovacchino DiMattia (Halifax, NS) made his AUS debut in goal. The UNB Reds tested him early, firing seven consecutive shots to open the game.

The REDS Peter Reynolds (Fredericton, NB) opened the scoring at 5:31 with a clean wrist shot following crisp passing. Half-way through the period, Dal's Del Monte found an opening ten feet from the net and lifted the puck into the top-left corner, tying the game 1-1.

The Reds quickly regained the lead just over thirty seconds later. An unfortunate deflection sneaked over DiMattia's glove, putting the REDS ahead 2-1. At 12:37, Reynolds capitalized on a costly Tigers defensive turnover, scoring his second goal with a clean shot, extending the lead to 3-1.

Dalhousie's sharpshooter, Alec Belanger, responded with a precise top-right corner shot after receiving a perfect outlet pass from Del Monte, narrowing the gap to 3-2. However, in the final minutes of the first period, the REDS executed a counterattack that ended with Michael Petizian (Mississauga, ON) scoring an uncontested goal, closing the period at 4-2.

Three minutes into the second period, the REDS Jax Dubois (Ottawa, ON) scored from behind the net after a failed dump-in bounced off DiMattia's pad, making it 5-2. Two minutes later, another unfortunate sequence occurred as a centring pass from Petizian deflected off DiMattia's pad into the goal, bringing the score to 6-2.

Following these setbacks, Tigers sophomore Nicholas Chenard (Tecumseh, ON) replaced DiMattia in net, making his first season appearance. However, UNB quickly capitalized. At 6:45, Sean McGurn (Ottawa, ON) delivered a cross-ice pass to Cole Huckins (Upper Kingsclear, NB), who slotted the puck into the net, extending the lead to 7-2. At 9:40, Reynolds completed his hat-trick with a one-timer, pushing the lead to 8-2.

The third period was largely uneventful, though Dubois added another goal at 9:02, sealing the REDS dominant 9-2 victory.

Peter Reynolds was named player of the game for his hat-trick.

The Tigers will aim to rebound from this tough defeat and show resilience against the second-seeded Moncton Aigles Bleus at 7:00 PM AST on Saturday at the Halifax Forum.

Meanwhile, the undefeated UNB REDS, riding a six-game winning streak, will face the STFX X-Men this Saturday at 4:00 PM AST at the Charles V. Keating Centre.