(FREDERICTON, NB) The UNB Reds were finally able to solve l'Université de Moncton's Aigles Bleues.
The Reds hung on to beat les Aigles Bleues 4-3 on Wednesday night, the first Reds win over Moncton in UNB's new era of women's hockey.
"It's nice that we finally broke that curse against Moncton," said Reds head coach Sarah Hilworth.
Moncton was the only Atlantic University Sport team that UNB did not beat last season, the Reds' first in the AUS since 2008, going 0-4 against les Aigles Bleues.
The Reds scored early and often on Wednesday, opening the scoring at 7:54 of the first period.
Myah Bowal (Terrace, BC) re-directed Katherine Chadwick's (Kanata, ON) pass by Moncton goalie Audrey Bertheiaume (St-Bruno, QC). It was Bowal's second goal of the young season.
"It was all Katherine in that moment," said Bowal. "She carried the puck in, I just happened to be there to finish it off, but it was all her going in to the zone."
UNB went up 2-0, on the power-play, at the 14:44 mark.
Ashley Stratton (Mount Pearl, NL) came from behind the Moncton net, and powered the puck in on a wrap-around.
The teams skated almost quietly through the first 17 minutes of the second period, before erupting for a combined four goals in less than a minute.
Moncton's Katherine Dubuc (Victoriaville, QC) put les Aigles Bleues on the board at 17:17, making it a 2-1 hockey game.
Tamina Kehler (Chilliwack, BC), celebrating her 19th birthday, restored UNB's two-goal lead 26 seconds later, and Hanna Matchett (Nanton, AB) made it 4-1 Reds 14 seconds after Kehler's goal.
Elizabeth Tremblay (Saguenay, QC) finished the flurry at 18:07 of the second, pulling Moncton to within two.
"Hockey is a game of seconds," said Tremblay. "I guess we just took the chances and made a bit of a difference. They got better chances and did great at the end of the second."
With 3:56 to play in the third period, Isadora Quirion (Saint-Gédéon de Beauce, QC) fired a one-timer past Reds goalie Hailey Martens (Ladysmith, BC) to make it a 4-3 game, but that was as close as les Aigles Bleues would get.
"It's a hard loss. I think we played well," said Tremblay. "We got pretty good shots, pretty good chances, but we'll have to take that as a learning experience."
"In the third period, they came out hard, but we matched that," said Martens, who picked up the win in her season debut. "We definitely had some breakdowns, but I think we took care of what we need to to get that win."
Bowal, who also assisted on Kehler's goal, was named the Subway Player of the Game.
With the win, UNB is now 2-1.
Moncton is 1-2.
"At the end of the day, even when we don't play our best, we still can win games, and I think that's a big message for our group, but we can't be satisfied right now. We have to keep going," said Hilworth.
Moncton's next action is Saturday, when they host the St FX X-Women in a 7:00pm start.
The Reds are back on the Aitken Centre ice on Saturday when they host the Dalhousie Tigers. Game time is 7:00pm.
RECAP BY: Andy Campbell/UNB Athletics
PHOTOS BY: James West/for UNB Athletics