[Fredericton, NB] The UNB Varsity Reds topped the St. Thomas Tommies 8-3 in a pre-season game at the Aitken University Centre Monday night, in their second pre-season matchup.
Philippe Maillet led the way for the Varsity Reds, putting up an impressive six-point outing, with two goals and four assists.
While the Tommies had yet to play their first pre-season game, UNB came into the game fresh off a 6-3 win against McGill University, and were looking to get another win under their belt before the regular season begins.
The Varsity Reds got to work early putting home their first two shots of the game, coming off the sticks of Philippe Maillet (Terrebonne, QC) and Alex Wall (Mt. Pearl, NL) respectively. But the Varsity Reds were not done there. With the Tommies getting caught in penalty trouble, UNB took advantage with more offensive pressure. Peter Trainor (Fredericton, NB), Cam Brace (Markham, ON) and Philippe Halley (Québec, QC) each slotted a power play goal all within 10 minutes of each other, lengthening the gap for the Tommies to come back. Despite a near buzzer beater from the Tommies UNB took a 5-0 lead to the dressing room.
St. Thomas was only able to put up four shots on the former Moncton Wildcat and current UNB goalie Alex Dubeau (Mascouche, QC). The UNB Varsity Reds tallied 17 shots after 20 minutes.
Fresh out of the dressing room, St. Thomas began to get their legs and began to push back on UNB. It took them the better half of the period but with only eight minutes to go in the second, Andrew Fritsch (Brantford, ON) broke up the shutout with a one timer off a feed from JC Campagna (Dublin, USA) on the power play.
UNB answered back almost immediately, with a goal of their own, putting the deficit back to five, with a quick shorthanded goal by Cameron Brace, his second of the game. But St. Thomas was not about to lie down in this high scoring contest. Colin Martin (London, ON) fired home his first of the pre-season on the power play, followed three minutes later by a late period Tommies' goal scored by Matt MacLeod (Niagara Falls, ON) closing the gap on the Varsity Reds.
Colin Suellentrop (Plantation, FL) was dealt a 10 minute misconduct for a hit from behind sending the Tommies back to the power play going into the third. While the Varsity Reds held the lead, the Tommies took the second period putting 14 on net to double the previous period. UNB were held to only eight in the second.
However, the Varsity Reds put their foot on the gas in the third, only adding to the now insurmountable lead they had built. Matt Boudens (Pembroke, ON) made it 7-3 with his first, and Philippe Maillet tacked on his second goal of the night, with one of four power play goals scored by UNB.
The Varsity Reds kept up their hard play through the period to render the Tommies to only five shots in the period. They cruised to an 8-3 win at the end of regulation and took home their second pre-season game of the year.
It's good to see the guys are ready in this exhibition," said Philippe Maillet. "Obviously it was not our best second, but that's how you learn and we bounced back in the third."
"We find a way to get better each time, we got some good positives and some things to work on," said Gardner MacDougall about his team's second showing of the year. "This time of year you start to look for habits and try to install some work ethic in the team."
The Varsity Reds continue pre-season action on the road in Halifax, taking on the Dalhousie Tigers on September 26th before heading to the United States.
Michael Bourgeois for UNB Communications