Second period surge secures Varsity Reds victory over Tommies

A second period surge from the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds cost the St. Thomas Tommies a 6-4 loss in Atlantic University Sport men's hockey action, Wednesday night at the Grant-Harvey Centre in front of 766 fans.  

Matt Petgrave had three points for the Varsity Reds in the win, while Colin Martin and Rankyn Campbell each had two points for the Tommies in a losing cause.

The Varsity Reds hit the score sheet just 2:35 into the game when Dylan Willick beat Tommies goaltender Tyson Teichmann high, finishing a tic-tac-toe play from Peter Trainor and Cam Critchlow. 

It was back and forth the rest of the period with the Varsity Reds only outshooting the Tommies 10-9. David Shantz stood tall between the pipes for the Varsity Reds, stealing a couple of strong scoring opportunities from the Tommies. 

"I thought our speed and intensity was real good in the first period, the shots were pretty even after the first period, 1-0 deficit—not a real mountain to climb," Tommies head coach Pat Powers said after the game.

The second brought on a flood of goals. Phillip Maillet got things started for the Varsity Reds when he tipped a shot from Petgrave over Teichmann's shoulder for a 2-0 UNB lead. 

Martin responded for the Tommies on the power play midway through the frame, profiting off a scramble in front of Shantz. 

The Varsity Reds' offense kept flowing with Francis Beauvillier and Rob Mignardi scoring within 16 seconds of each other to put UNB up 4-1. 

With four minutes left in the period, Campbell converted on a nice individual effort to bring the Tommies within two, but Philippe Halley and Taylor MacDougall scored late in the frame to give the Varsity Reds a 6-2 lead after 40 minutes. 

"We came out in the second period and we misidentify in the defensive zone, we're not strong defending our net, and then when it rains it pours," Powers said. "They took advantage of every opportunity we gave them. That's what good teams do."

The Tommies came out firing in the third and were rewarded when Martin netted his second goal of the night on a breakaway at 2:22. The Tommies' momentum continued and Eric Diodati closed the gap to 6-4 after beating Shantz high just over a minute later. 

The Tommies pressured throughout the rest of the period, but couldn't capitalize.

"I thought we came out in the third period and responded. We gave ourselves an opportunity to tie it and possibly win it, so there were a lot of things that were positive about that game but we need to learn from the negatives," Powers said.

The Tommies are back in action Nov. 29 when they travel to Prince Edward Island to take on the UPEI Panthers. Game time is 7:00 pm.

With files from STU Sports Information.

Photo courtesy of Brian Smith.