(CHARLOTTETOWN, PE) Lily George (Garden Village, ON) scored once and assisted on another goal to lead the UNB Reds to a 3-1 win over the UPEI Panthers, on Saturday.

Myah Bowal (Terrace, BC) and Tamina Kehler (Chilliwack, BC) also scored for the Reds, who finish the first half of the 2018-19 season with an 8-5-3 record.

"We weren't expecting to be here at the beginning of the year," said Reds head coach Sarah Hilworth about her team's third place standing. "We just wanted to end 2018 on a good note."

With both teams looking to close out 2018 with a win, the energy was high to begin. The Reds launched 13 shots at the Panthers net.

Bowal opened the scoring, early in the second, with UNB on the power-play. She re-directed Hayley Hallihan's (Miramichi, NB) shot from the slot.

The Reds silenced the crowd at 12:34, when Kehler took a feed from George and sniped it top right corner to push the lead to 2-0.

Late in the second, Panther forward Maria Clinton (Souris, PE) had a chance to trim the deficit in half, but Hailey Martens (Ladysmith, BC) picked the puck out of the air for the glove save. She finished with 33 saves and was named Subway Player of the Game.

"We're really lucky to have two goalies who we can really rely on," Hilworth said. "We needed Hailey to get this big win for us and it's nice that she's able to compete at a high level and hold us in there."

George added an insurance marker four minutes into the third to open up a 3-0 advantage.

"We got a little content after that first goal and they [UPEI] really pushed it on us," Hilworth said. "It was good test for us."

Both teams return to action in January.

RECAP BY: Thomas Becker/for UPEI Athletics

PHOTOS BY: UPEI Athletics