Braes Leads VReds Over Huskies

(FREDERICTON, NB) On a night when the UNB Varsity Reds paid tribute to members of the Canadian military… they got contributions from the rank and file, in a 6-2 win over the Saint Mary's Huskies.

Cam Braes scored twice and assisted on another to lead the UNB effort.

Braes' linemate, Chris Clapperton, scored once and had two assists.

Philippe Halley, Francis Beauvillier and Taylor MacDougall also scored for the Varsity Reds, while Philippe Maillet and Colin Suellentrop each had two assists.

Jamie Doornbosch and Bradley Greene scored for Saint Mary's.

After a six-hour bus ride, most of it through a driving snow storm, the Huskies showed plenty of life. They held the VReds scoreless in the first period.

Saint Mary's did have a five minute power-play, after Cameron Critchlow was handed a game misconduct for hitting Michael D'Orazio from behind, but could only muster one shot on net.

Clapperton opened the scoring, at 5:37 of the second period, and Beauvillier made it 2-0 less than five minutes later, crashing the Huskies net and pushing the puck past goaltender Cole Cheveldave.

Doornbosch pulled Saint Mary's to within a goal, at 14:34, but Braes' first of the game a short time later sent UNB to the second intermission up 3-1.

Greene's goal, just 3:58 into the third, gave the Huskies life, but it was short-lived.

Halley restored UNB's two goal lead mid-way through the frame before Braes, with his second, and MacDougall scored 25 seconds apart to put the game away.

"We didn't have the first period that we wanted," said Braes, after the game. "But we do have a resilient bunch. We rallied in the first intermission and had a better second and third."

"They rode the bus all day, which is tough. We've been on the other end of that… and we felt, having the home ice advantage, we could use that."

"We gave UNB the night off," said a disappointed Trevor Stienburg. The Huskies' head coach didn't hide his feelings, saying his team was "awful."

"We came in here and had a chance to have a good game against a real good team and we blew it."

The victory extends the Varsity Reds' win streak to 11 games and clinches a first round AUS playoff bye for UNB for a tenth consecutive season.

"As the game progressed, we got better," said Varsity Reds head coach Gardiner MacDougall. "We had a solid second and found a way in the third, we got a chance to use all four lines and all six of our D(defence) and Etienne(Marcoux) made big saves when he needed to."

"Full credit to Saint Mary's for getting here."

While his team may have benefitted from the Huskies' long day, MacDougall knows it could easily have been the other way around. "It wasn't an easy day. They had to start early. They had a long bus ride and I thought they had a great start to their game."

The Varsity Reds will look to extend their winning streak to an even dozen, on Saturday night.

The CIS second ranked team hosts the fourth ranked Acadia Axemen. Game time is 7:00PM.

The Huskies head to Charlottetown, for a game against UPEI.