Reds Win Before Sell Out Crowd

(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB Reds scored three first period goals on route to a 4-1 win over the visiting Moncton Aigles Bleues on Friday.

Patrick Watling (Sault Ste. Marie, ON) opened the scoring 1:06 into the first period, and the Reds never looked back.

Stephen Anderson (Morell, PE) and Samuel Dove-McFalls (Montreal, QC) added goals later in the period.

Matt Murphy (Fredericton, NB) scored the Reds' fourth goal, in the second period.

Gabriel Vanier (Boisbriand, QC) scored Moncton's lone goal, late in the second.

Samuel Harvey (Alma, QC) stopped 22 of 23 shots in the UNB net and assisted on Murphy's goal, earning Subway Player of the Game honours.

"I think we played a good game," said Harvey. "The guys made it easy for me. We were great, all the game."

Tyler Boland (St. John's, NL), who recorded two assists in the win, said Harvey deserved to be the game's first star.

"That really kept us in it in the third period," he said. "He made some big saves. He was a brick wall back there for us."

"It's easier to play when you have the lead," said Harvey. "We took too many penalties and they had some momentum in the second period, but in the third period we were good."

The Reds outshot Moncton 40-23.

"It was a tough game tonight," said Moncton's head coach, Judes Vallee. "Not physically, but mentally. We always have a problem when we come here. We have a problem matching their intensity."

"They're tough to beat," Vallee said, of UNB. "They have a really fast team, they put a lot of pressure on you. It was tough for us to play a simple game tonight."

With the win, the Reds are now 10-and-3, while Moncton falls to 6-5-3.

The game was played before 3374 spectators, with Northside Elementary School Night and Home Depot Night selling out UNB's Aitken Centre.

"It was a lot of fun to play out there," said Harvey. "There was a lot of noise and it was just really fun to play tonight."

Moncton's next action comes next Friday when they host St FX.

The Reds visit Charlottetown and the UPEI Panthers on Saturday. Game time is 7:00pm.

RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics

PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics