Redmen, Rams, Pronghorns & Eagles On UNB Exhibition Schedule

Non-conference play opens Sept. 14 vs. McGill

The McGill Redmen will return to the Aitken Centre on Sept. 14th and 15, to face the Varsity Reds in pre-season play. The Redmen visited Fredericton for both the 2017 and 2018 Cavendish Farms University Cup tournaments. (Photo: James West Photography/for U SPORTS)
The McGill Redmen will return to the Aitken Centre on Sept. 14th and 15, to face the Varsity Reds in pre-season play. The Redmen visited Fredericton for both the 2017 and 2018 Cavendish Farms University Cup tournaments. (Photo: James West Photography/for U SPORTS)
June 29, 2018

(FREDERICTON, NB) The reigning Atlantic University Sport champion UNB Varsity Reds will play host to the 2017-18 OUA champion McGill Redmen in a two-game exhibition series, September 14th and 15th, at the Aitken University Centre.

The pre-season series opens UNB’s six game 2018-19 exhibition schedule, which also sees the Varsity Reds traveling to Ryerson and Boston College.

“The non-conference schedule is a key component of our foundation building,” said Varsity Reds head coach Gardiner MacDougall. “We’re excited about the variety and strength of our opponents. We’ll play four teams outside of our league and measure our early season growth in a game against an NCAA powerhouse coached by the legendary Jerry York.”

The Varsity Reds and Redmen will square off Friday, September 14th, at 7:00pm, and again on Saturday, September 15th, at 3:00pm.

“This will be a great kick-off to our season. We expect two top-notch games with the defending OUA champs,” said MacDougall.

Last season, the Varsity Reds captured their first AUS title since 2015, beating the StFX X-Men, while McGill downed the Brock Badgers in the OUA’s Queen’s Cup final.

UNB went on to earn the bronze medal at the 2018 Cavendish Farms University Cup, at the Aitken Centre. The Redmen were eliminated in the U Cup quarter-finals.

Following their series with McGill, the Varsity Reds will go on the road for three games.

They’ll visit the Ryerson Rams, September 21st and 22nd, at the Mattamy Athletic Centre, formerly Maple Leaf Gardens.

On October 6th, UNB will visit the Boston College Eagles, who finished the 2017-18 season as one of the NCAA’s top 20 ranked teams.

The Varsity Reds will then focus on the first half of their AUS regular season schedule, which concludes on December 1st, at Acadia.

During the Christmas break, UNB will play host to the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns on Saturday, December 28th, at 7:00pm.

The game will serve as the 2018 Peterbilt Atlantic Pete Kelly Cup Challenge.

“We look forward to welcoming the Pronghorns and coach Spiro Anastas on their first visit to the Aitken Centre,” said MacDougall. “We’ve heard the team has a great work ethic and is building to be one of the top teams in their conference.”

The Pronghorns’ visit to UNB comes as they prepare to host the 2019 University Cup, March 14th-17th, at Lethbridge’s Enmax Centre, home of the Lethbridge Hurricanes, of the Western Hockey League.