(FREDERICTON, NB) Eric Brassard (St. Hubert, QC) stopped 29 of the 30 shots he faced and Connor McGlynn (Oakville, ON) had the game-winner and an assist as the U SPORTS No. 8 ranked Saint Mary's Huskies beat the No. 1 UNB Reds 3-1.
"It's good to come here and win a game, they [UNB] have been first in Canada for the past couple of years so obviously it's a nice win for us," said Brassard.
Brassard's effort earned him the Subway Player of the Game nod.
The two teams now sit tied for second place in the AUS standings with 8-3 records.
Both teams battled for every centimetre of ice all night long, with great tactical play at both ends.
"That's obviously a great team they have over there," said McGlynn. "They're great offensively and we just wanted to keep it simple in our defensive zone, get pucks out and be strong defensively and that's what we did."
The Reds put some great pressure on the Huskies throughout the first period, but Saint Mary's would counter with resilient defence to keep the period scoreless.
The second period was filled with even more close play, with both teams playing each other to a stalemate for another 15 minutes.
"It was frustrating for our team, but that's not an excuse," said Reds forward Tristan Pomerleau (Riviere-du-Loup, QC). "We should find a way to win, we have a great group of guys and we should have won that game for sure."
After failing to convert on a two-man advantage late in the frame, the Reds went down a man, and the Huskies' Mitchell Balmas (Sydney, NS) capitalized with a goal at 14:27 to put the Huskies up 1-0.
Penalties would bite the Reds again as McGlynn put the Huskies' second power-play marker just past the pad of Samuel Harvey (Alma, QC) to make it 2-0 SMU with just over six minutes left.
"Give them full credit, we got out-competed, got out-worked, got out-coached, got out-everything," said Reds head coach Gardiner MacDougall.
Just 35 seconds later, Tyler Boland (St. John's NL) would finally solve Brassard, firing a shot blocker-side to cut the Huskies lead to 2-1.
The Reds would pull Harvey with just over a minute and a half to play, but Noah Zilbert (Fredericton, NB) would gain possession for the Huskies and seal the win with an empty netter.
The Reds outshot the Huskies 30-26.
UNB went 0-for-5 on the power-play while SMU went 2-for-5.
Harvey had 23 saves in a losing effort for the Reds.
Pomerleau had the assist on the lone Reds goal.
The Reds will look to bounce back on Saturday afternoon when they take on the Acadia Axemen at 4:00pm. The Huskies visit Moncton for a 7:00pm start.
RECAP BY: Jonathon James/for UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics