(FREDERICTON, NB) Climbing aboard the team bus, ready to make the eight-hour trip to Sydney, Ben Gorringe was all smiles.
The fourth-year midfielder, named an Atlantic University Sport 1st Team All-Star on Wednesday, will lead the UNB Reds against the Universitè de Moncton Aigles Bleus, in the quarter final round at the Subway AUS Championship, on Thursday.
“Our strengths really match up with their weaknesses, so that’s exciting,” said Gorringe. “We know they’re going to come out flying, because it’s the first time they’ve been in the playoffs since I’ve been here. We’re going to have to match that.”
The two teams met only once during the regular season, with the Reds scoring a 4-2 victory at Moncton, on September 23rd.
Despite that win, Gorringe knows Moncton is a different team than the one they saw five weeks ago.
In fact, Moncton won its last three regular season games.
“We had a good second half of the season, so did Moncton,” he said. “We’re eight games undefeated, which is something I can’t remember doing in a while so we’ve just got to keep that going.”
“Whenever these two New Brunswick rivals compete, it is always hotly contested,” said Reds head coach Miles Pinsent. “The fact that it’s a playoff game should just add more heat. They’re a dynamic and athletic team, so we’ll have to be sure to be disciplined.”
UNB goes into the quarter finals as the third seed, while Moncton is number six.
Dalhousie and Acadia, seeded fourth and fifth, meet in the other quarter final.
The lowest remaining seed, after the quarter final games, will then face top seeded Cape Breton, the defending national champions. The highest remaining seed would meet No. 2 St FX.
“It’s a do-or-die thing, so you have to take it one game at a time,” said Gorringe. “Obviously, the end goal is to win the whole thing, but we can’t take Moncton for granted and we have to focus on just that one game first and then move on from there."
Thursday’s quarter final game between UNB and Moncton is scheduled to kick-off at 4:30pm.