UNB Returns To Winning Ways

(FREDERICTON, NB) Two streaks came to an end Friday night, at the Aitken Centre, in Fredericton.

The UNB Varsity Reds ended a two-game losing streak by ending the Saint Mary's Huskies five game winning streak.

Philippe Maillet(Terrebonne, QC) scored twice and added two assists to lead the Varsity Reds in an 8-3 win over the Huskies.

"It's one of those nights," said Maillet. "I had a tough weekend last weekend, and I wasn't proud of my performance, so it's good to bounce back before the Christmas break."

Last Saturday, the Huskies edged the VReds 3-2, in Halifax.

Along with Maillet's four-point night, Matt Boudens(Pembroke, ON) added two goals, Stephen Anderson(Morell, PE) had a goal and two assists, and Colin Suellentrop(Plantation, FLA) and Mark Simpson(Fredericton, NB) each had two assists.

Cam Braes(Shawnigan Lake, BC) and Chris Caissy(Campbellton, NB) each had a goal and an assist, and Dylan Willick(Prince George, BC) also scored for UNB.

Hunter Garlent(Thorold, ON) scored twice to lead the Huskies. Ben Duffy(Lower Sackville, NS) had SMU's other goal.

The Huskies opened the scoring at 7:42 of the first period.

Without a shot through the first six-plus minutes, the Huskies were buzzing inside the UNB zone when Duffy beat Alex Dubeau(Mascouche, QC), giving the visitors a 1-0 lead.

That lead didn't last long.

Just 18 seconds later, Maillet scored his eleventh goal of the season, on a breakaway.

Boudens gave the home team a 2-1 lead early in the second, but Garlent scored his first of the night just 17 second later to draw Saint Mary's even.

Braes scored, on the power-play, before the period was five minutes old, and UNB took that 3-2 lead into the second intermission.

The teams would trade goals again in the third period.

Anderson made it 4-2 at 4:28 of the third, but Garlent's second of the game came less than a minute later.

Caissy and Maillet, with his second of the night, scored just 40 seconds apart to make it 6-3, before Boudens, with his second, and Willick rounded out the scoring.

Dubeau stopped 19 of the 22 shots he faced to earn the win in the UNB net.

Cole Cheveldave(Calgary, AB) allowed 8 goals on 42 shots in the loss.

"We got to 4-3, we were fortunate to get there, we were showing some jam… and we just fell apart," said Huskies head coach Trevor Steinburg. "The team swarmed us. We got back in the game, but the fourth goal broke our back, and the fifth really did."

"Our third periods, it's the most important period in the game," said Boudens. "Coming in with a one goal lead, we didn't want to take our foot off the gas pedal."

With the win, the Varsity Reds, the No. 1 team in U Sports Canada's hockey rankings, improve to 13-2-2.

The Huskies, who played their final game of the first half of the season, fall to 8-8-1.

"We're doing our best," said Steinburg. "When it counts, we have to win one game in this rink at some point this year. We haven't given up on the fact that can happen, but if you're asking us right now… they were the better team."

Varsity Reds head coach Gardiner MacDougall acknowledges the Huskies are a hard-working team.

"They've got a young group," he said. "You have to play a structured game against them and I thought we… you like to have a lead, they bounced back a couple of times, but I thought we showed some perseverance in the third."

UNB wraps up its first half of the season on Saturday, when they host the Acadia Axemen in the 25^th Mark Jeffrey Memorial Game.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00PM.